SPANG Reborn
by John-117sp
Summary: South Park: A New Generation rewrite, a fic that showcases the main children growing up to have their own children, and their everyday lives. Rated T for teen. Stendy and a few other implied parings revealed so far.
1. Chapter 1: Prelude

**Hello guys. I have finally enacted on my decision to bring back these series. Now, that said, I'm changing the storyline and some of the characters from what I originally wrote four years ago. I've been waiting a long time to rewrite this fanfic.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

Twenty-four-year-old Stan Marsh sat on the brown couch within his own dark home watching the Christmas special of _Queer Eye for the Straight Guy_. The only lights that were on were the ones from the Christmas tree and the TV itself. He rolled his eyes at the show as two men made another homosexual joke. Dressed in his blue pajamas, his hair growing down to his ears in the same mopped style as he had during his childhood, he shuddered as the winter chill flowed through the house. The Christmas tree sat to the left of the TV blocking a good portion of the front window, decorated with lights and ornaments of assorted colors, and a bright yellow star on the top. Boxes wrapped up in colored paper and tied with ribbons sat underneath the tree. "Damn, I thought the heater is working better than this," he muttered. Just then, his ears perked up as as he heard the front door unlock itself and open, inviting in a gust of chilly wind, causing Stan to shudder once more as he turned his attention towards the doorway.

In came a tired previously-named Wendy Testaburger, now Wendy Marsh, dressed in her gray business suit and skirt. Closing the door shut and locking it, the bags under her eyes made her fatigue clear to Stan. Her eyes slowly gazed from Stan to the TV, and she raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Is that...is that Queer Eye for the Straight Guy?"

Stan turned back to the TV. "Butters and Lola were going on and on about how good this show is, but I honestly don't see anything of it. I don't know, I'm not being a cynical asshole, am I?"

Wendy shook her head and chuckled. "No, no, it's just...I didn't know that show is still around." She could never see Stan as a cynical asshole, if anything, he was the one who gave her strength, after all the couple had been through since the last four years. "Damn Crab People." The last bit was a joke from how the show on TV was once used by Crab People to turn men into metrosexuals so they could take over the world.

"So how did the trial go?" Stan asked.

Wendy sighed. This was the last thing she wanted Stan to ask her. But she could not dodge it any longer, she already told her friends after she was allowed to, and it would only be a matter of time before Stan found out anyways. She sat down on the couch to the right of Stan. Putting her elbows on her thighs, she buried her head into both her hands. "I think...I'm a terrible lawyer."

Stan put his arms around his wife as she leaned against him. "Wendy, it's ok. I'm sorry, I didn't think-"

"It's not your fault Stan." Wendy leaned her head back against the couch. "It was pretty obvious my client Trent Boyette was a scumbag."

Stan immediately frowned when he heard that name. "I didn't know he was the one you were trying to defend. Oh God." It came back to him when Stan, Kyle, Eric, and Kenny framed Trent for arson twice in his lifetime. It just occurred to Stan that somewhere down Trent's life, his personality must have tilted, probably leading to the various murders in Colorado. Of course, Wendy had known for years what Stan did to Trent, but it matter not to her at this moment.

"Everyone knew he did the murders. But after talking with him, it's just...I don't know..." She sighed again. "For me, it was an uphill battle, but I could have done a better job. I could have lessened his sentence...that said, he's going to be executed tonight. Even worse, what am I going to tell his parents? 'Sorry, your son's getting executed on Christmas Eve because I did a shitty job?'"

She tried to blink away her tears, but the guilt of the execution sentence overtook her. As Wendy began to cry into her husband's shoulder Stan patted her back. "It's alright, Wendy. It's not your fault. You did what you could, and that's what matters."

"This isn't the first time I've gotten someone killed, Stan."

Stan bit his lower lip. It reminded him of the time when Wendy summoned Arabs to shoot Ms. Ellen, his 3rd grade substitute teacher, into the sun, all because he completely swooned over his own substitute teacher while conveniently forgetting about Wendy, whom he started dating back then. "Well, to be fair, his life was over when I framed him for arson the first time. So...what are you gonna do now?"

Wendy closed her eyes, struggling to make out her next words. "I might just quit to be honest. Find a different job in the political field." She was nervous, not sure how Stan was going to react.

Stan shook his head. He couldn't believe that this was all coming out of Wendy, but alas she need his support now more than ever, so he rubbed her right shoulder a little. "This doesn't seem like you at all Wendy. I can't imagine you quitting out like that after one bad trial. I thought this was what you wanted to do."

"I know, I didn't imagine it would come to this. Thought I could follow Kyle's footsteps, you know, thought it'd be really easy. It's just..." Wendy let out an exasperated sigh. She opened her mouth to speak again, but nothing came about it. After the events of the trial, one could say that Wendy had finally learned a little humility.

"I don't want you to leave, people fail and they get up. We have to learn from our mistakes Wendy." Stan then shook his head again. "But I can't stop you from quitting, if that's what you want to do." Realistically, this is true. No matter how much Stan wanted Wendy to toughen up and face challenges, at the end of the day, it was not his choice to make. But this wasn't the Wendy that he knew, the Wendy he knew wouldn't give up so easily.

Fighting for women's rights is one thing, but being the determiner between the life or death of someone is a completely different story, and as far as Wendy knew, Trent Boyette is losing his life because of her incompetence. While she did not want to quit so easily, the guilt from the trial ate her up so badly. For a few minutes she cried some more, then her tears began to fade away and her eyes began to dry up. "I...heard the Parks and Rec department is hiring."

It was typical of Wendy to always find some backup plan in case things went wrong for her. And as long as Wendy was happy, so was Stan. "Whatever you do, Wendy, make it count."

Wendy smiled at Stan's endearment. "I'll send them my application and resume tomorrow, then we can go over to Kyle's and Bebe's for the Christmas party." Wendy was about to say more, but the noise from the TV captured her attention.

 _"Oh my gosh, that is so totally gay, Ted!"_

 _"You're totally gay, Carson!"_

Some more giggles from the men on the TV screen sounded out into the living room. Wendy's face was contorted with disgust. "This show kinda sucks. Who recommended this trash again?"

Stan nodded his head. "Butters and Lola. And yeah, it does suck. I still can never understand why I got into that metrosexual fad in the first place anyways."

"I'm gonna have a little talk with them about this later." Some more silence came between the both of them. Then Wendy looked around. "Hey, I haven't seen our son anywhere here. Did you put him to bed?"

Stan looked around as well, but he already knew what Wendy had just said. "A bit before you came home. Why?"

"Oh nothing." A few more minutes passed before Wendy started to yawn. "I'm getting sleepy. I'm gonna head to bed. You coming, Stan?"

Stan yawned as he turned off the TV via remote and stood up to follow his wife upstairs. "Yeah. Coming."

The two of them stopped at the first doorway to the right. Wendy slowly opened the door, and the moonlight that shone through the room's window revealed a small three-year-old boy sleeping soundly in his bed underneath his blanket. His back was turned towards them, but one could clearly see his jet-black hair stylized much like Stan's. Light snores came from the boy. Despite the noise that the two adults had made previously, the boy did not stir. "Aw, how cute," Wendy said.

"The boy that the two of us created," Stan replied.

"The one that I carried around in my stomach for nine months, sure, haha."

Stan and Wendy both chuckled but then they sighed as Wendy closed the door. Neither of them wanted to admit this to the other, but in the back of their minds, they both knew the same thing: they knew very well that the cause of the hardships they faced within the last four years was because of their child. When both were twenty-years-old and were still in college, the two of them forgot to take proper precautions one fateful night, and as a result, had their son. Their parents, predictably, did not approve of this, but despite circumstances they still showed their support. For obvious reasons, they could never bring this up with their son - nothing like letting their own son know that he was an accident and was never supposed to happen.

After the two went into their own bedroom, and Wendy changed into her pink pajamas, the couple slipped underneath the blankets. "Every night, I take a good look at our son Wendy. Do you...do you ever think we should tell him the truth of his upbringing?"

"We can't let him know, Stan," Wendy replied. "Yes, he's just like most of the other children - an accident." Ironically, most of the people they knew their age since their elementary school days (their close friends included) fell to the same fate as well, almost as if some magical spell had been cast upon that specific generation. "But still..."

"I know, and I know why." Stan let out a light yawn. "I gave up alot. Thought I could become a doctor or a vet, while raising a child at the age of twenty, you know. But you know this."

"I can't thank you enough, Stan. It's kinda why I hesitated about my decision to quit my job. I didn't want your sacrifice to end up going to waste."

"Hey, as long as you're happy, so am I." Stan then shrugged. "Besides, it's only fair, the 'accident' was kinda my fault anyways."

"Stan, don't say that, it was both of us, we should both own up to it." Wendy snuggled up to Stan, and Stan let out a sigh of relief. "Anyways, that said, yeah, first thing I do tomorrow, I'm sending my application to the South Park Committee. Besides, my mom was once a mayor, I think I have an edge over everyone else."

A playful smirk overcame Stan. "Let's not be too cocky again, Wends."

"Haha, fuck you." Wendy's sassy tone caused Stan to laugh a little. Then the two of them yawned once again. The sleepiness had definitely overtaken them by now. "Yeah, I think I'm done. Goodnight, honey."

Before Wendy could close her eyes, she heard Stan call out to her. "Hey Wendy?"

"Yeah?"

"Merry Christmas."

* * *

 **Hello again.**

 **I'm glad to finally be able to start writing this fic again, and hopefully it will be better than all my other fics I have written. As for the Fundraiser fic, I lost interest on this a little since this fic had been on my mind since last year. So far, Stan and Wendy is pretty much confirmed (and there are a few other parings if you look hard enough). Also, while Stan's and Wendy's child is unnamed, I already planned on the name (and if you've been stalking me, you'd know).**

 **Until next time.**


	2. Chapter 2: Accidents Happen

**Hello again guys. Just a spoiler: don't be intimidated by the very long classroom list that's in this chapter, it's mostly flavor text, and I don't think I'm even gonna use half those characters in a meaningful way. That said, it's now time for Chapter 2.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2 - Six Years Later**

Along the streets of South Park that were illuminated by the Monday morning sun came kids and parents getting ready to leave their homes to go to school or work. While traffic echoed and faded in pattern like sine waves on a heartrate machine, there was one yellow school bus that made its way through the streets heading west. Inside the school bus were about 60 or so 4th graders.

Towards the front of the bus on the right side sat a single boy alone. His black hair was cropped, going a little past the top of his ears. He wore a purple jacket with the hood down, green gloves, and blue pants. He lazily blinked his blue eyes as he looked out the window and sighed, gazing at the various pedestrians who went about their business.

 _Ugh, I hate school. Four more weeks of this and I'll be outta here. Whatever, I'm sure things will get better over the next few weeks, I hope._ The optimism from the kid drained quickly as he sighed again. _There is no way it's gonna go smoothly._

 _"Good luck at school today, honey."_ Those were the last words the boy heard from his mother before he walked out the door of his house, like usual. To most people, his mother's sweet, loving voice could instill a false sense of innocence and security in them, and would be seen as a kind gesture. To the boy, it felt like nothing more than passive aggressiveness, albeit unintended. He didn't have anything against his mom in particular, but this thought occurred to him when he felt the bus stop at a certain place.

School.

"ALRIGHT KIDS! SHUT UP AND GET OUT!" The screech of Ms. Crabtree, the school bus driver, rang through the boy's ears as if someone stuck fireworks next to his ears. He jumped in surprise. Groaning in disgust, he swung his black backpack onto himself and was the fifth kid off the bus, leaving without making any sound.

It never fails. Everyday, his mom would tell her son the exact same thing before the kid would leave for the bus stop, and everyday, the opposite of what his mom would hope for her son would happen - but today had to be different, right? The boy sighed as he was suddenly pushed along by hundreds of other students piling through the front double doors. He had to contend with boys pushing other boys, girls giggling and gossiping while piled directly in the middle of hallways blocking paths, and couples of boys and girls of all ages (making valiant attempts at) flirting. The boy did his best to slip through the masses doing his best to avoid eye contact with everyone.

As he was putting his backpack in his locker and shutting it, all of a sudden another boy the same age as the first boy rubbed his knuckles on the boy's black hair, pushing him towards the ground, causing the first boy to nearly lose footing and fall. "Heyyo, Cory Marsh! Howya doin'?" This was one voice he was too familiar with.

Cory struggled to stand as he groaned deeply, wiping dust off his purple jacket and turned to face the kid who almost pushed him to the ground. "Ugh, Sam!"

Sam Broflovski was in his usual outfit - an orange jacket with a light green collar, dark green pants, light green gloves, and a light green ushanka for his headwear. Even though he had his arms out, he was not expecting a hug. "Dude, Cory, aren't you exited to see me? Comeon you big pussy." It was an interesting relationship they both have. Sam likes to tease Cory and sometimes lightly punch him, but Sam never actually beats Cory up. He's like a bully protector - he annoys Cory sometimes, but he doesn't like it when others bully Cory.

"I'm tired, ok?" Cory rubbed his eyes and temples as he faced Sam's jacket, not making eye contact, as softly did his words come out.

"John Donovan's got something in mind for you, and it won't go good if you don't lighten that attitude." Sam followed his words with a goofy smirk, and Cory groaned again, knowing that more hazing was to come for him. Sam then let out a drained sigh as his goofy smirk turned into a frown at the thought of the hazing. Interestingly, Cory met Sam solely on the basis of Stan and Kyle being close friends (and still are to this very day). Originally, Sam wasn't fond of Cory, but some time ago, Cory wanted to join Sam's group because he "wanted to be with the cool kids", and he was tired of being low on the social ladder. Unfortunately for him, that meant doing stupid and mean things so that he can be a part of the cool kids crowd - in other words, he was getting hazed. He had to steal, hack, tamper, and sometimes extort money from other kids just to belong in my group, and it made him feel sick inside. But Cory was convinced Sam wouldn't understand - he was too much of an idiot after all. And how could Cory tell his own parents? If Cory told Stan and Wendy half the things he had done at school he was certain they'd disown him in the blink of an eye.

A girl caught Cory's eye from a few feet away, with straight blonde hair that flowed to her back, a black headband on her hair, a brown jacket with a pink collar, pink gloves, and black pants. Her wearing dark colors didn't matter; to Cory, she herself is beautiful, with lush cheeks, and blue eyes, so beautiful it made him feel like crap. Her name is Kelsey McCormick, the daughter of Kenny and Kelly McCormick, and the girl she was talking to wore a gray hoodie, blue pants, and purple gloves. Her somewhat short brown hair barely reached below the bottom of her neck. That girl is Nikki Cartman. Both girls are relatively thin and beautiful.

Cory closed his eyes and sighed. _Neither of them acknowledge me. No matter how many times my parents hang out with their parents, given they were close friends, and no matter how many times our parents tried to get us to interact, those two felt like they are too good for me. Why does it take so much effort to be cool?  
_

"Hey, comeon, I know you want to slip Kelsey the tongue, but at least be respectful and give me the attention I deserve." Sam's remark almost made Cory jump as Sam took off his green hat, revealing his short blonde hair.

"Shut up!" Cory growled loud enough for Sam to hear. Sam then put his hat back on, hoisted up his backpack, and walked past Nikki and Kelsey, then around the corner. All Cory could do is bang his own head on his locker door.

 _I wish Sam would just shut the fuck up. Because he's the only kid in this school who knows about my crush on Kelsey, he always does this. He teases me about Kelsey and talks loudly about her, but in a way which no one else knows about my crush. If someone actually has a clue and is paying attention, they will see through Sam's message and immediately know. Which is funny because Sam's dad is supposed to be super smart, but Sam himself is a fucking dumbass. Why does he always have to do this?_

* * *

Kelsey McCormick watched Sam say his last words to Cory and Cory yell at Sam in reaction while Sam walked away, leaving an exasperated Cory to bang his own head hard on his own locker door and groan loudly. The sight and sounds that beheld her only reminded her of what she already knew - she had already known about Cory's crush on her for months. That was the thing: Cory thought that his crush on Kelsey was a secret, but Kelsey knew the entire time. Kelsey was attentive and perceptive enough to interpret Cory's hallway glances and classtime stares at her. The way his mouth opened, the way his blue eyes opened up like a puppy-dog every time he gazed longingly at her, and the way his cheeks would blush a bright shade of red when he looked at her - it was too obvious. She watched as Cory folded his arms, looked around nervously, then slid away from Kelsey out of sight.

Kelsey couldn't return the love to Cory - she simply did not like him. Even though their dads were close to each other and they tried to introduce them to each other, Kelsey simply found Cory uninteresting, and boring. It was awkward being around him - she felt like he kept to himself most of the time. "Creep" was the nicest word for her to describe Cory.

"I don't understand why I'm keeping this secret for Cory." Kelsey shook her head. "I mean, it's just a stupid crush, right? Why don't I just spill the beans and get it over with, and maybe it will scare him enough to stop staring at me everyday."

Nikki laughed. "Nah. Watching Cory torment himself like this is way more fun." That was the thing though - unlike what her dad Eric would do to others when he was young, Nikki didn't have to put forth any effort into psychologically torturing Cory - Cory was already doing that to himself well on his own.

Kelsey raised an eyebrow at Nikki. "Wow, you're awfully sadistic today."

"Well, we never actually do anything to him, I mean he's doing this to himself, he's always psyching himself out." Nikki put her hand on Kelsey's left shoulder. "Besides, the idiot still thinks his 'secret' crush is still a secret."

"Well besides Sam, we're the only other two people who know, so technically it's..." Kelsey then shrugged, "...kind of like a secret?"

"Anyone who pays half-attention is going to figure out quickly, guy has as much subtlety as your dad, haha." Nikki took her hand off of Kelsey's shoulder. "It's just that most people in this school aren't very attentive, between you and me. Besides, you deserve way better than him."

"Agreed." Kelsey nodded, then her smile turned into a cringe again. "But seriously though, I don't want his attention. What would the other girls think anyways?"

"I'm sure they would think the exact same thing you do, if they knew, so I wouldn't worried about it regardless." Nikki, as reassuring as she tried to be, is completely on point. The other girls - Linda Anderson, Kelly Leone, Natalie Black, Susan Stoley, Cindy Tucker, Leslie Donovan, Helen Tweak, and Claire Stotch - could see Kelsey's point of view, they would have to understand.

"Yeah, but it's making me uncomfortable." Kelsey shuddered as if cold wind blew through her. "He's a creep. I almost want to report him for sexual harassment - uh, staring can be considered sexual harassment, right?."

"No, don't do that, Kels." Nikki shook her head in disapproval. "I'm not trying to get him suspended or destroy his life or anything, I just enjoy watching Cory torture himself. I mean we really don't need to go that far. Besides, it's not like he's a bad guy or something." The last sentence came out of Nikki with less confidence than usual. Of course, she did not know Cory. To her, Cory was an anomaly, which is odd, considering how well their parents know each other.

"It's really uncomfortable to always be attracting creeps like him." Kelsey banged the back of her head onto a locker. "Disgusting."

"This really isn't worth trying to ruin someone's life over." Nikki shook her had again as she bit her own lip. Deep down inside, Nikki was jealous of Kelsey attracting most of the male population. She was jealous that Kelsey is considered the most beautiful girl. But Kelsey was still Nikki's best friend. And as much as Nikki didn't like Cory, she knew there was something more to him than what he lets on at school. On the outside, he seemed like a shy kid who has an innocent crush on a pretty girl, but Cory's constant fearful and nervous expressions and movements gave an unnerving feeling to Nikki. She never saw Cory smile, she had a feeling Cory has been hiding something; Nikki was certain that there is an unknown darkness inside him. On the other hand, Nikki has thought before that it could be his outside that is the darkness and there could be a hymn of hope on the inside. It was all too confusing to Nikki, and it was already due time for her to find out. The only problem is that, as stated, she and Cory barely know each other, and she was certain that Cory wouldn't let her in his life so easily.

A third girl came in, whose blonde hair was tied in pigtails tied with dark-green scrunchies and wore a bright teal jacket and dark green pants. "Hey there fellas!"

"Claire Stotch," Nikki and Kelsey said in monotone as they nonchalantly looked at each other then back at the third girl.

"What's this talk I hear about Cory?" Claire innocently made a fistbump in the air. "Why, gosh darn, he's a nice guy, but he's a bit seeming weird to me. But it's not for me to judge."

Too naive for the other two girls' sakes, the two of them rolled their eyes. "That's nice, Claire," Nikki said.

"Class starts in two minutes, shouldn't we get going?" Claire began to walk away from the other two girls but only taking a few steps forward, she stopped and turned around as soon as she realized that the other two girls weren't following.

"Yeah, we'll catch up with you." Kelsey waved Claire off and as soon as Claire left, Kelsey turned back to Nikki. "Ok, that was really fucking close. Like she almost heard what we were saying about Cory's crush on me. Can you imagine what Claire's gonna do if she had heard us? She would have told everyone because she can never keep her stupid mouth shut!"

"Yeah, she's kinda stupid, and I'm sick of her trying to get in with our gossip." Nikki shook her head. "Like, there's a reason why I talk about shit like this to you and _only_ you."

Before either could say anything else, the bell already rung. "Oh shit, we're late," both girls said in unison.

* * *

For the last twenty or so years, the school didn't really advance in looks on the outside. Some of the playground equipment have been updated and renovated, some of the interior have been fixed, and the school recently got new computers, but everything was basically the same since Stan's generation left. Herbert Garrison still taught the 4th grade for the last twenty years, and each year his class was the same. That said, class today wasn't very interesting, it was mostly about Mr. Garrison talking about pop culture, like usual. Today he was busy trashtalking Maury Povich and how his show "Maury" is a "cancer to society", and, like usual, the children were bored.

Afterwards, Mr. Garrison stood up front. ""Now I forgot to take role earlier this morning, how stupid of me." Mr. Garrison then grabbed a clipboard and a pen and then began to read off the names on his list. "Catherine Allen?"

"I go by Kat."

"Linda Anderson?"

"Here."

"Emile Antoinette?"

"Here."

"Daisy Biggle?"

"Here."

"Natalie Black?"

"Here."

"Travis Brent?"

"Here."

"Samuel Broflovski?"

"I go by Sam."

"Cool. Charlie Brown?"

"Present and ready to work, your highness."

Some of the kids in response snickered things like "geek", "nerd", and "faggot".

"Nicole Cartman?"

"I go by Nikki."

Mr. Garrison shook his head. "Yeah, no. We already went over this, Nicole. The name 'Nikki' reminds me of Nikki Minaj, and Nikki Minaj is a two-faced bitch, so no, I'm not calling you that. Moving on, Frederic Cotswolds?"

"I go by Fred."

"Ok. Ashley Crater?"

"Here."

"Diane Dimmons?"

"Here."

"John Donovan?"

"Here."

"Leslie Donovan?"

"Here."

"Kurt Eastwood?"

"Here."

"Steven Emery?"

"Here."

"Leah Fetherston?"

"Here."

"Calvin Frederickson?"

"Here."

"Sarah Hendricks?"

"Here."

"Toby Hoffman?"

"Here."

"Nathan Howard?"

"I go by Nate."

"Great. Walker Irvington?"

"Here."

"Carter Jenkins?"

"Here."

"Mary Lawrie?"

"Here."

"Kelly Leone?"

"Here."

"Clarence Lewis?"

"Here."

"William Malkinson?"

"I go by Will."

"Uhuh. George Marlowe?"

"Here."

"Cory Marsh?"

"Here."

"Kelsey McCormick?"

"Here."

"Kimberly McDonald?"

"I go by Kim."

"Fascinating. James Milton?"

"Here."

"Ricky Oswald?"

"Here."

"Susan Stoley?"

"Here."

"Claire Stotch?"

"Here."

"Harvey Stratford?"

"Here."

"Michelle Taylors?"

"Here."

"Sally Thompson?"

"Here."

"Cindy Tucker?"

"Here."

"Helen Tweak?"

"Here."

During morning recess, Cory found himself staring at Kelsey again while outside. She was the girl he wanted but the girl he didn't deserve. It tortured him, it made him sick. He was with his other "friends" standing in the middle of the field, them being Sam, John Donovan, Ricky Oswald, Kurt Eastwood, James Milton, Fred Cotswolds, Will Malkinson, Calvin Frederickson, and Steven Emery. Only he wasn't really friends, it was more like him being the buttboy and scapegoat of the group. It's like what his dad Stan has told him about Butters Stotch, or Claire Stotch's dad.

John's next words triggered him. "Hey, Cory, I got something for you to do." John's tone, to Cory, felt even more malevolent than usual. Cory's teeth chattered, and he gulped.

"What?" Cory tried to compose himself as a tough and harsh individual, but there was obvious nervousness and fear in his own voice. Something told him he wasn't going to like what he was about to do.

John smiled. "You know, when I heard you talk with Sam earlier this morning before class, it gave me a bright idea." John Donovan wore a dark blue jacket and dark blue pants, with his brown hair in a buzzcut.

Cory gulped. _Oh no. If John heard what Sam said about Kelsey, I have a feeling it was going to involve her._

"Push her to the ground."

"What?" Cory blinked twice and rubbed the inside of his right ear, wondering if he heard John correctly. He could not have said that.

"You got condoms in your ears? Shove Kelsey McCormick onto the ground."

Cory almost wanted to vomit. _This is nothing but vile. My parents would never want me to shove anyone to the ground, no less a girl that I like._ Cory couldn't believe what he was hearing. He wanted to vomit right now. "W-why?"

"Come." John grabbed Cory by his collar away from the rest of the group towards the blacktop where a few girls were playing jump rope. He looked around to make sure no one was in earshot, then he put his face up against Cory's. "Because I know about your crush on Kelsey, and I am going to tell everyone your deepest, darkest secrets. I'll tell everyone what you'd done in this school. You know what they are. You can thank Sam for that one."

Cory groaned again. _Ugh, that fucking asshole Sam! I knew he'd fuck me over! I should have known! That dumbass can never keep his mouth shut!_ "B-b-but I can't!" Cory managed to choke.

"Everything I said is not a threat, it's a promise." John clenched his fists and cracked his knuckles, wanting to make sure Cory knows that he wasn't playing around.

"Why are you making me do this?" Cory asked.

"The End-Of-The-Year dance is about four weeks from now." That brought Cory aback - how could he have forgotten? Cory wanted to muster up the courage to ask Kelsey out. But as the seconds passed, that dream might be lost. "Can't have any competition, you know?"

Cory had no idea what John meant by competition. He tilted his head in confusion. No matter what though, Cory was in no position to fight back - that dirty work would be made public and John would physically kick his ass. "B-but-"

"Shut up faggot, now do it! Push her down!" John pushed Cory forward towards Kelsey as Cory yelped.

Kelsey stood with the rest of her friends near a tree towards the back chatting away. Cory watched as she happily talked about presumably girl gossip. He made a loud gulp. He really didn't want to push her down, but he had his back against the wall - figuratively and literally. He can't let John reveal the things he had done when he was hazed, and then some. Everyone will hate Cory at school. And what would his parents think? He didn't think Stan and Wendy would be very thrilled about being hazed at school, nevermind what he actually had to do. Cory let out a huge sigh. He walked towards Kelsey's group.

Kelsey was busy talking to her group of usual friends, "And so, Charlie Brown did-"

"Kelsey, look," Nikki interrupted, pointing behind Kelsey.

Kelsey turned around and almost jumped at the sight of Cory right in front of her. Kelsey's gut pounded for a moment, but she stood straight, with as straight of a face as she could muster, although deep down she held nothing but disgust for the raven-haired boy. "May I...help you?" Her voice was nothing but full of sass, and not the good kind either. Her left eye was almost closed but her right eye stared deep into Cory, like a detective looking for answers.

Cory closed his eyes and gulped. _I'm sorry, Kelsey._ His heart was beating fast from just being directly in front of his longtime crush, but he could barely feel his own hands out as he stepped forward with a pushing motion, touching Kelsey's stomach for only a second. The next thing he knew he felt Kelsey no more, but only heard a thud onto the snow along with screams from other children. When he opened his eyes, he saw Kelsey on the ground, struggling to get up.

"What the fuck?" It took two seconds for Kelsey to fully register what happened, and about four more seconds for her to stand up straight, and part of it was by surprise from who the push was from, and part of it is that Cory is deceptively strong, despite his thin build. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" Between the mixture of physical pain from getting pushed to the ground and the emotional one she felt when she realized that it was the guy who had a crush on her who pushed her down for no reason, Kelsey began to cry, tears dripping from her eyes.

Cory put his hands over his mouth, horrified. "Oh no! Kelsey, I'm so sorry, I-"

Nikki grabbed Kelsey by the arms and hugged her as she wore an angry glare at Cory. "Do you like picking on girls? Are you an asshole, is that it, Cory?" Cory could not respond. He didn't have a good answer, and he could only pay his mind to hundreds of pairs of eyes giving him angry stared. The sheer amount of negative attention freaked him out so badly that the only thing he could do is turn around and run towards the school without looking back, breaking free from Nikki's grasp in the process. Nikki rolled her eyes. "Sorry, but I'm just gonna have a private talk with Kelsey, girls." Nikki waved goodbye to her friends as she took Kelsey inside the school.

The two of them found themselves alone in the girls bathroom. Kelsey was still crying in the meantime. "I-I d-don't understand. W-why'd he d-do this?" She wiped away her tears again only for more to form.

"I don't know, Kels." Nikki shrugged. "Knowing he has a crush on you, it makes no sense. I-I'm gonna get to the bottom of this." A determined look formed on her face. "And I know just how."

* * *

Luckily, Cory managed to dodge Kelsey and the rest of her friends for the entire day. After school was finished, he immediately ran home. When he opened the front door, he was met by his beautiful mother. "How was school today, honey?"

"Fine." Cory's answer was forced and harsh. He did not make any sort of eye contact at Wendy.

Wendy frowned. She knew that her son must have ran into some sort drama again. She could see the tired, sad look on Cory's face, the same one whenever Stan is stressed out. "Are you sure, honey?"

Cory looked up at Wendy for a second. "I'm fine, really, mom." He then looked down at his feet and prepared to march upstairs to his bedroom.

"Alright, well, the Cartmans are coming over at five for dinner, so be ready by then." Cory almost tripped on the top-most step when he heard Wendy say that.

"I gotta say, I didn't expect their daughter to actually want to see Cory tonight." Cory's father Stan then came into view from the kitchen. "It's whatever though, we could use some visitors here for once, haha."

"Stan, I'm glad that Eric's and Red's daughter is finally warming up to our son," Wendy replied. "It's a good thing our efforts didn't end up being for nothing. I mean, do you know how awkward it'd be if we were friends with them, but our children aren't?"

Cory was certain that his parents didn't realize that he was still listening, but nonetheless he was still sick of it. Her mom's words felt like an insult made against him. He went inside his bedroom and closed the door. His bedroom was neat and clean. For most boys his age, his clean bedroom would be an anomaly to all of his peers. However, that would be because of how strict Wendy was when she came about Cory's organization habits - if it were up to him, his dirty clothes would be all over the place. No matter what though, Cory plopped down onto his bed anyways, stuffing his face into his white pillow, and began to cry into it.

For one, it was said by Stan that the Cartmans coming over was all Nikki's idea. Knowing how cold Nikki historically treated Cory, he was certain that the visit would not bode well. It wasn't a friendly ignorance, Nikki's treatment was fairly passive-aggressive. To him, she was his crush's bitchy best friend, as cliche as could be. Because of all that, why Nikki would want to see Cory was rather unnerving.

Worst of all, how is he going to explain to Nikki why he pushed Kelsey to the ground? He couldn't mention that he was coerced by John or else John will find out and tell everyone everything he did when he was being hazed, and that would certainly not sit well with his parents. He can't confess to Nikki that he has a crush on Kelsey either, because not only will he be teased and gossiped about, but it simply would not make sense to anyone in the context of him pushing Kelsey to the ground, and it would be embarrassing for him anyways - which is ironic, given that Nikki has known already about Cory's crush for a long time. Besides the guilt he felt for physically hurting his crush, he also backed himself into a social disaster with no way out.

All because he tried to be cool with the popular guys.

About two hours later downstairs, Stan and Wendy both had already arranged the dining table and got the lamb in the oven cooking. "Yeah, that would be pretty awkward, continuing on what we were previously talking about." Stan set down a fork on the dining table. "I don't know, I mean, do you feel like sometime our son isn't being very truthful to us? He never really talks to us, never talks to us about school, I don't know. I feel like we're drifting apart somehow."

"It's not just us, Stan." Wendy came out of the kitchen and stood in front of Stan. "Everytime we try to introduce Cory to one of our friends' children, they just don't get along. I don't get it, I mean it's not like Cory bullies people at school, I hope he doesn't."

"He really doesn't seem like that type of kid, he mostly keeps to himself from what I've seen." Stan shook his head. "I mean, you have to admit he's pretty shy."

"Could it be that maybe it's when he found out-" The ringing of the doorbell, however, cut Wendy off. "They're here already? What time is it again?"

Stan didn't answer, as he went over the door to open it. There stood in the doorway was none other than the Cartmans Eric, Red, their daughter Nikki, and their six-year-old son Martin. Eric was still fat, but not nearly as fat as he used to be. Red's body was similar to Wendy's: thin, curved, and beautiful. "Stan, my man." Eric delivered a quick hug to Stan. "How's it going?"

"Pretty good, pretty good." A smirk then overcame Stan. "So I heard your daughter's quite fond of my son, yes?"

"Shut up dude." A light punch in the arm was the response from Eric.

Red came up to Wendy in the kitchen in the meantime. "Hey girl, how's it going?" She and Wendy both hugged for a few seconds.

"Pretty good cutie." Red giggled at Wendy's response as the two split apart. "I think it's pretty cute how your daughter wanted to see my son. Do you think they're dating?"

"Oh I don't think they'd go that far," Red replied, "I mean, I wouldn't mind. I just don't know if Eric would mind, you know..." Red looked around the kitchen, peered into the living room, then turned back to Wendy. "Speaking of which, where is your son?"

"He's probably in his room." Wendy then walked over to the living room. "Cory! We have guests over!"

"It's ok, I'll just go up there, Mrs. Marsh." Nikki came from behind her dad. "I gotta talk to him about...school stuff, anyways." Without another word, Nikki ascended the stairs.

Meanwhile, Cory was frantically pacing the floor. _Oh no! Nikki's already here! Should I leave? Is that a good idea? I don't know, but I should try, I think!_ As Cory turned to the window above his bed, climbed on top of his bed, and began to open the window, he heard the door to his bedroom open. Within a second or two, he found himself pulled off his own bed and down onto the floor. He stood up, dusted his jacket off, and turned to face an angry Nikki Cartman. _Oh no.  
_

"Hey jackass. Where do you think you're going, jackass?" Overuse of one insult tends to not be very humorous because of repetition, although in Nikki's defense, in this situation, she wasn't trying to be funny. She quickly closed Cory's bedroom door so no one could hear.

Cory gulped, as his heart began to beat faster with fear. Is Nikki going to beat him up? Is she going to tell his parents about what he did? "L-l-look, I-I know why you're mad, b-b-but-"

"But what? Are you an asshole? Do you think beating up on girls is funny?" Nikki grinded her teeth in anger. "In case you forgot, like you usually do about everything, Kelsey McCormick is my B.F.F, so if you're going to shove any girl, don't shove MY friend, got that?"

"I-I didn't mean to, I swear!" Cory had his palms out, as if trying to wave Nikki off. "Accidents happen!"

Nikki wouldn't have it, she was so angry at what happened at school. "'Accidents happen?' You 'didn't mean to' walk a few yards to my friend to shove her down? Bullshit! How about I kick your ass - or better yet, how about I tell your parents about what you did at school?" She almost went off to talk about Cory's crush, but she clamped her mouth down before she could. And before Cory could reply, she went on. "Why did you push her? Who put you up to this?"

"I-I c-can't!" Once again, Cory had his back against the wall, figuratively and literally. "I c-can't say!" If Cory told Nikki, pretty soon, John would know, and then John would tell everyone what he did when he was hazed at school and his parents would be soon to know as well. And Cory knew that if he tried to put the blame on John, John and his friends would deny everything. It was no use. Cory began to cry again.

"You're gonna cry now? After what you did to Kelsey you're trying to play victim? Fuck you you stupid, manipulative bastard! This is why no one likes you at school." The last sentence stung Cory's heart. No matter how much he tried to make friends, and no matter how perfect he tried to be like his own parents, everything Nikki said was true. No one did like him, and it only reaffirmed how Cory felt that he disappointed his parents because of lack of social popularity.

Before Nikki could go on, Wendy's voice called from downstairs. "DINNER'S READY!"

Nikki quickly grabbed Cory's collar with her right hand. "We're gonna talk about this at school tomorrow, you douchebag." She let go of Cory, causing him to stumble backwards, landing butt first onto his own bed. Nikki then walked over to open Cory's bedroom door. She peered he head out into the hallway. "COMING!" she said in the sweetest voice possible. She then turned back to Cory, returning to her angry, grumbling state. "Come on. I'm hungry."

* * *

Dinner was lamb, wild rice, sliced carrots, broccoli, and diced cucumbers. It was a rather simple meal since the visit was on relatively short notice, but it mattered to no one anyways. On one side of the table sat Stan, Wendy, and their son Cory. On the other was Eric, Red, and their children Nikki and Martin.

"So Red, tell me again how you and Eric hooked up in our senior year of high school." Wendy giggled as the words came out of her mouth like a little girl. Stan, rolled his eyes and chuckled while Red and Eric both exchanged gazes then sighed.

"I swear my friends always ask my this question everytime we meet up, even though I told each of you multiple times already." Red shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I just gotta savor the moment, I just..." But Wendy couldn't finish as she began laughing again. "Oh my God..."

Red pointed straight at Wendy with her right index finger. "Last time I say this." She then turned to Cory, sure that Cory didn't know. "Anyways, my friends and I had a bet about the superbowl in our senior year of high school. I thought the Denver Broncos were going to lose the grand finals, given their track record. Wendy, your mom, bet that if I lost the bet, I had to break up with Token Black and go out with Eric here -" Red then pointed at Eric "- for at least two weeks. And if she lost, she'd have to break up with your dad and go out with Eric for at least two weeks. Obviously, as you can see, I lost the bet."

"So what made you two...click?" Cory asked.

"Well, Cory, they say that a man can really change in the presence of a woman. They say love can change people." Red then put her left arm around Eric. "And let me tell you, I used to think it was all crap."

"So does working at Tom's Rhinoplasty," Wendy giggled again. She then leaned over to Stan and whisper her next words to him. "As we both know, nosejobs aren't the only jobs Red will give." Stan nearly choked on a carrot after hearing that.

"Ok, Wendy, I know you're trying to be funny with my job, but please zip it." As Wendy calmed down, Red began again, turning to Cory. "Anyways, people change, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. And Eric can be a bit of an asshole, but he's determined, and he's improved alot, he put forth a great effort in changing to be a nicer guy in general, for me. He's still kind of an asshole, but he's my asshole." Red then rubbed her chin as she blushed realizing what she just said. "Ok, that totally came out wrong."

"Mom..." Nikki rolled her eyes as her face contorted in disgust.

"That was pretty lame, ho," Eric smiled, "but it was sweet. Thanks."

Stan blinked his eyes several times, still stunned at Red's unintended perversion. "Um, ok. Uh, so Eric, how's the car shop treating you?"

"Uh, I'm so glad my last boss got fired. A week ago." Eric took a sip of water as he went on. "Our new boss is Mr. Matsumoto. Some Japanese guy. Ugh, I hate his frickin' accent, it's so hard to understand anything he says. I'm not trying to be racist, I'm seriously. On the other hand, he did consider me and Butters the best employees." Stan and Wendy both looked at each other in confusion. "Yeah, I know you both totally won't believe it. But I'm seriously."

"I've seen it myself, shockingly," Red confirmed.

"Yeah." Eric then yawned. "So how's the Jew doing? Haven't heard much of him recently."

"Who, Kyle?" Stan asked.

Eric raised an eyebrow, as if facially calling Stan stupid. "Uh, yeah? Who else would I be referring to?"

"He says he deals with too many idiot clients, but he always complains about that." Stan took a bite out of his rice.

Eric rolled his eyes. "Go figure."

"Yeah, well, my dad's trying to sue some other geologic research company in Middle Park because they recorded research notes before our company could." Stan should his head. "I don't even think you could sue for that, I mean, what? I guess he forgot that research facilities should work together."

"Yeah, I don't think suing works like that, honey," Wendy added.

"Yeah, almost as dumb as that one time when we were kids and we tried to sue a dead person." Eric started snickering at Stan's comment, and in turn, Stan smirked at Eric. "Yeah, we tried to sue John Harrington over trying to figure out how to use a toilet. Man, Clyde lost alot of money from his mom's life insurance."

During the exchanges between the parents, Martin Cartman minded his own business. Meanwhile, Cory and Nikki exchanged glances and glares with each other while not saying anything to each other. Of course, after the alcohol was brought out, the parents were so drunk and distracted none of them paid any attention to how the two kids acted to each other (or perhaps lack thereof). After the social gathering was over, and everyone went home and went to bed, Cory went upstairs, changed into his pajamas, and crashed onto his own bed.

There was alot on his mind, such as John Donovan and his friends' bullying, how Sam Broflovski inadvertently told John about his crush, how he pushed Kelsey to the ground, and how pissed Nikki was and how much her insults stung him. Then again, he couldn't exactly fault her for being angry - after all, he did shove her best friend down to the ground for no good reason. But worse off, he delayed telling Nikki about the truth, but he couldn't avoid it, he would have to tell her sooner or later why he did what he did.

One last thought drifted into Cory before he fell to slumber. It was how perfect his parents seemed to him. Even he couldn't deny that both Stan and Wendy were beautiful people, who were caring, intelligent, and put forth tons of effort and sacrifice for him. But he didn't feel satisfied, he felt like he drifted apart. To Cory, they were perfect in every way possible, but he wasn't. He felt like a disappointment.

After all, he knew for a while that he was never supposed to exist.

* * *

 **Kids can be cruel :(**

 **I hope I'm not being too over-the-top, although this is South Park, so already, there's some over-the-topness in that essence. Claire Stotch's appearance is derived from a combination of Butters' normal clothing and his appearance as Marjorine. Sam's appearance is mostly based on Kyle's, except his hair.**

 **One last note: the original doesn't exist anymore. I'm not gonna post it anywhere, I didn't like the original, and looking back, it felt like an embarrassment to me honestly.**

 **Until next time.**


	3. Chapter 3: Following the Egg

**Sorry I couldn't get this done earlier, my stupid computer keeps freezing on me.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

While Stan and Wendy did their best from letting Cory know the truth about his conception, Cory would eventually figure out anyways. However, the truth did not come from either of the parents or any of the friends; in fact, the revelation shortly led to PC Counselor (previously PC Principal) leaving South Park Elementary for good after serving eighteen years a school principal, then counselor, until one eventful day while Cory was in 2nd grade.

 _The school bell rung and shortly after, all 2nd grade children got up from the cafeteria and shoved each other to go have lunch recess outside in the playground. As an eight-year-old Cory came out of the restroom with his hands still wet (the boys' restroom ran out of paper towels), he passed by two boys from the 4th grade, his ears perking curiously from a conversation that would foreshadow his fate._

 _One boy wore a black baseball cap backwards. "Oh man, so apparently, I've heard most of the 2nd graders are unwanted pregnancies."_

 _Another boy wore the hood of his blue jacket. "Wait what? Who told you this?"_

 _The first boy raised an eyebrow. "Our teacher, Mr. Garrison." Cory knew he heard his parents mention a man by the name of Mr. Garrison, but he wasn't sure what this was all about, and why they were talking about pregnancies and why they were talking about 2nd graders. But if there were a few things he already knew, he already knew the concept of sex and the concept of a pregnancy. Cory crept closer, intrigued by the conversation._

 _"So what about the 2nd graders in this school?" the boy in the blue jacket asked. "What's this got to do with anything?"_

 _The boy with the black hat laughed. "I just think it's just funny, you know, that an entire generation doesn't know and/or forgot the concept of birth control haha. Don't think those trashcans even know what a condom is."_

 _A lot of the words the first boy said confused Cory. He didn't know what birth control is and he doesn't know anything about condoms. As he crept closer, both boys took notice. "Hey, what are you doing here?" The blue jacket kid asked. "Beat it."_

 _"Hey wait a minute..." The boy wearing the black hat took a closer look. "Oh man, you're Cory Marsh huh?" Cory was taken aback. How did the two older boys even know him? "I've seen you around, seen kids your age call out your name. Man, speaking of unwanted pregnancies..."_

 _"What?" Cory was completely confused at the situation._

 _"Next time you see your dad you should teach him how to use a condom." Both boys began to snicker and laugh as they slammed their lockers shut and walked away._

 _Cory's mouth hung open. "What's a condom?" But no one heard him. Cory was confused. He wasn't sure what they meant by condoms and birth control (nor does he know what they actually are). He wasn't sure if he was just insulted just now. And he was still rather skeptical about how both boys knew of him, despite sufficient reasoning they gave. Of course though, as Eric Cartman had told (and joked with) Cory, the best place to look for research was the internet. Wasting no time, he stood up, and instead of going out to play on the playground, he snuck over to the computer lab._

 _Luckily, the door was unlocked, no one was in the computer lab, and the computers were still on. Pulling up a chair at one of the computers, he sat down, fired up Firefox, and went over to the resource he knew best - Wikipedia. After about ten minutes of research or so, he found out that condoms were a form of birth control, but for why and how? Why would anyone want to prevent a pregnancy? Tons of questions unanswered floated through his mind._

 _"Hey bro, you shouldn't be on the school computers at this time!"_

 _A rugged, manly voice made Cory jump two inches vertically from his seat. Turning around, he saw a muscular man in his late forties with dirty-blonde hair beginning to gray, blue polo shirt, khaki pants, and blue-shaded Oakleys. "PC Counselor, I-I -"_

 _"Don't you dare touch that computer, Marsh!" Cory trembled in fear as PC Counselor waded over to the younger boy. He put his hands over his heart, afraid of what PC Counselor might do. As far as he knew, PC Counselor has rather violent tendencies and a valiant crusader of political correctness. PC Counselor wanted to make sure that school was a safe space for everyone, and if he had to beat up a kid, then so be it. That said, when PC Counselor took a good look at what Cory was looking at on Wikipedia, he first grimaced, then his disgust quickly turned to anger, seething beneath his breath. "I cannot believe that's what you're researching. Do you have any idea how your actions can hurt others?"_

 _"PC Counselor, I-I didn't mean-"_

 _"To my office! Now!"_

 _No more than two minutes later did Cory find himself marched down into PC Counselor's office. The door to the hallway remained open, but neither Cory nor PC Counselor seemed to mind. PC Counselor straightened his Oakleys before he went on. "Listen, bro! Do you even know how you're hampering onto the safe space of others?"_

 _"N-no." Cory was very easily intimidated by most adults, as demonstrated by his soft, nervous voice, and PC Counselor was notorious for striking fear into the hearts of young children who would not abide to his political agenda. "I-I d-didn't mean t-to hurt anyone, p-p-promise."_

 _PC Counselor shook his head, grinding his teeth angrily. "What if another girl sees what you were looking up? Do you even realize how uncomfortable you'd make them feel if they saw you were looking up what condoms are? Do you not have any sense of respect for women, bro?"_

 _Cory raised a confused eyebrow. "What do girls have to do with any of this? I just wanted to know what they are because some boys told me that I should teach my dad how to use a condom. I don't get it." The more the conversation progressed, the more bewildered Cory became. This day was becoming more and more boggling each second, and his head started to hurt from all the vague confusion._ Seriously, what the hell are these people even on about?

 _PC Counselor sighed as he took of his sunglasses and placed them on his desk precisely 2.38 inches away from his own chest (oddly a very specific number). "Cory, you know what sex is right?"_

 _"A little bit, why?"_

 _"And you do know that unprotected sex leads to pregnancy, right?"_

 _Cory rubbed his chin. "Um...what? Is that true? I mean, I know what being pregnant means." Cory bit down on his own teeth. Given the lack of innocence of the nature of this topic, the mention of his parents, and the context of why he was brought here in the first place, he suddenly had a dread feeling that this conversation wasn't going to turn out alright for him._ I have a dread feeling about this, I don't think I'm gonna like where this is going. _  
_

 _"And condoms are used to prevent pregnancy, so that the man doesn't accidentally...you know..."_

 _Cory rolled his eyes impatiently. "Ok. I get it now, PC Counselor. But what do condoms have to do with my parents? Why did some kids mention my parents in this?" The real question to Cory is why the two 4th graders brought up his parents and if they were truthful? But if they were lying, why would those two 4th graders even bring it up in the first place? "Unless..."_

 _"Um, Cory, I don't know how to tell you this..." PC Counselor sighed as he closed his eyes. He slowly began to say his next words. "Your parents...um...you see, they forgot..." But PC Counselor spoke no more. He couldn't say the rest. Eighteen years ago, PC Counselor swore to make sure that every child's safe space was protected, and for Eighteen years he stood true to his verdict, and now he suddenly realized that he was breaking his own code. He flashed a nervous smile at the younger boy. "It's nothing, you know how kids are, Cory, heh heh, always playing jokes."_

 _But Cory already began to place the pieces together, ignoring PC Counselor's last words. At that moment the ugly truth was revealed, forever altering his mindset at the revelation so lurid and vile. He felt nothing but deceit and darkness, the evil truth of the reality of his own existence hitting him in the heart harder than any sniper rifle bullet possibly could. Tears began to slide down his eyes as he stood up and stumbled backwards from his chair, nearly causing him to fall to the floor. "No...no...this can't be..."_

 _"Cory! Wait!" But Cory already started running away, wailing and screaming down the hallway._

 _Half-an-hour later, Wendy, Stan, and Principal Victoria showed up in PC Counselor's office. Unsurprisingly, Stan and Wendy were both extremely pissed off at the situation. "You told our son WHAT?" Stan yelled._

 _PC Counselor, for the first time since the Ad invasion in South Park eighteen years ago, trembled in his chair in full-blown panic. "Bro, I didn't mean to say all that, I was just educating Cory about what he was looking up on the school computers, why he shouldn't be doing it, and how it could be hurtful to other girls, I didn't mean to reveal all that personal shit about you, bro!"_

 _That only pissed off Wendy even more. "Didn't mean to? Like all those other children you hurt while we were here because you're such a self righteous prick? Knowing you, you were probably trying to blackmail our son, FUCK YOU!"_

 _"There's a reason we kept that secret from him, and I can't believe you told him all this!" Stan added. "What makes you think you can go around spreading our secrets to the whole world like that?"  
_

 _"Why did you keep it secret from him, bro?" PC Counselor tried to find any excuse to try to counter the angry couple, but it was no use. No one would have it.  
_

 _"What does it matter to you anyways?" Wendy retorted. "How is it difficult to not hurt others while you do your fucking job? As a counselor?"_

 _Principal Victoria stepped up, not taking her eyes off the counselor. "You know, making a child cry like that and possibly scarring him for life is unacceptable, right, PC Counselor? I saw the whole thing, nothing he did warranted your actions against him." She shook her head. "Don't get me wrong, you did a fantastic job for the length of time you were here, but whether or not your words held malicious intent, I'm afraid my hands are tied. We're just going to have to let you go."_

 _PC Counselor said no more. After all, it was his fault. He got carried away, like he usually did. While many detested his methods (those who interacted with him and those who knew him perhaps through a filter), none could deny his effectiveness. But he broke his own code, he unjustly ruined a child's day, and unbeknownst to him, possibly his life. The guilt-ridden counselor simply got up and left without another word.  
_

* * *

"ALRIGHT KIDS! SHUT UP AND GET OUT!"

The screech of Ms. Crabtree caused Cory to jump from his seat from his previous slumber of himself leaning onto the right side, his cheeks previously into the window. As Cory swung his backpack onto his right shoulder, as he passed by Ms. Crabtree on his way out of the bus, he grumbled and groaned. _Ugh, I hate this school bus driver! Why can't she ever shut up and stop yelling?_

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Ms. Crabtree nearly made Cory jump again. Cory turned around to meet Ms. Crabtree's brown eyes glaring directly into his own blue eyes.

"N-nothing!" Cory quickly jumped out of the school bus before Ms. Crabtree could yell at him again. After a clean landing, he put his left arm through the left strap of his backpack so now his backpack was on him fully. Afterwards, he walked towards the front doors into the school. Suddenly, he found himself once again, like yesterday, pushed along the wave of several hundreds of students like himself. The surprise and sheer force caused Cory to fall face-first down to the ground in the middle of the main entrance room. "Goddamnit! I really hate people today." His chest ached from the fall, but he was fortunate he didn't fracture nor break any bones in his body, and for that, he was thankful something right went his way today.

Cory waded over to his locker and threw his backpack in. As he slammed the locker door shut, he turned around to see one of the two people he did not wish to see today. "Samuel." Cory's voice was full of venom and hatred.

Sam, guilty over what happened yesterday, had his palms out. "Cory, I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday. I didn't think-"

"Shut up, Sam! Shut up!" Cory attempted to use his left hand to slam his locker door shut with as much force as possible, but his locker door was already shut, so as a result, he only ended up banging on his own locker, causing the palm of his left hand to ache a little. "Ow!" But it made no difference in further showcasing his anger at the situation. "You messed up everything for me, Sam!" Cory shook his left hand a little from the shock of the impact as he went on. "You ruin everything! Now Kelsey will never go out with me, and everyone in school thinks I'm a giant asshole! Because you can't keep your stupid mouth shut!"

Sam was about to point out that Cory was the one who pushed Kelsey down, but he knew that that would not exactly be a good idea. "Cory, please-"

"Go away! God I hate you!" Cory, once again, began to cry. From such a strong word used against Sam, it broke Sam's heart, but ultimately, Cory was right. Sam did ruin everything for Cory. But it was no use to try to make peace with Cory right now, Cory was too irate to attempt to discuss anything rationally.

Sam walked away, cracking his jaw. _Well, he has his mom's temper alright._ Sam chuckled at the thought before sighing again. He couldn't deny it, he really messed up. Sam loved to tease Cory, but he wasn't trying to be mean, he just wanted to have fun and to bring out laughter and innocence in Cory because he truly believed that there was life inside the haunted raven-haired boy, but as he tried more and more, he began to realize that his efforts were futile. The result made him realize that not everyone appreciated his antics, and that such antics could cause unintended hurtful consequences. As much as Sam tried to now stay positive like he usually did, the guilt of the situation weighed him down.

 _I should leave Cory alone for now, but he'll have to calm down and forgive me eventually, right?_

* * *

Mr. Garrison brought a two cartons of white chicken eggs into the classroom. A magnetic board was attached to the blackboard. One column was labeled "BOYS" and the other was labeled "GIRLS", but the contents of both columns underneath were empty...for now. "Ok, children, this week we are all going to learn about parenting." Mr. Garrison proceeded to take a piece of chalk and write the word "PARENTING" on the board. He then went on. "I'm going to pair all the boys and girls into couples, and give each couple an egg."

"Ew! Boys!" some of the girls said.

Mr. Garrison rolled his eyes at the lack of maturity some of the students showed. "Shut up. Now, you must care for and look after this egg just like a baby for one full week. If you break your egg, it means you have a dead baby, and if you kill your baby, you get an F."

Cory, leaned back in his chair, muttered angry words underneath his breath. "Pretty sure an accidental pregnancy would also kill a baby."

Mr. Garrison shot an angry glare at Cory, appalled by his rude interruption. "What was that, Cory?" Mr. Garrison wasn't sure what exactly Cory said, but nevertheless, he wasn't in the mood for Cory's nor anyone else's crap.

"Sorry, just tired," Cory lied.

Mr. Garrison shrugged then continued on. "Anyways, when I announce your names, please move and sit with the person you're paired with." Mr. Garrison then began to place nametags of children in boy-girl pairs inside the columns. "Kat Allen, you're with Charlie Brown." Kat let out a groan in response. "Walker Irvington, you're with Diane Dimmons."

Cory banged his head down on his desk. _Oh no. He's gonna pair me with Kelsey. What am I going to say to her? How am I not going to look like an idiot and not look like an asshole? What is she gonna say to me? How am I going to explain why I pushed her down yesterday? Does she like me?_ Everything about Kelsey proceeded to run through his mind, his arguably unhealthy obsession over the blonde McCormick girl causing enormous amounts of stress in the raven-haired boy.

"Sam Broflovski, you are with Claire Stotch," Mr. Garrison said.

"Oh boy!" Claire beamed as she went over to sit next next to Sam. "I'm glad to be working with you Sam! I can't wait to meet your parents again, they seem like pretty nice fellas." Sam's only response was a blank expression followed by two blinks of his own green eyes.

"John Donovan, you are with Kelsey McCormick," Mr. Garrison continued.

 _What?_ Cory looked up to see Kelsey join John towards the left side of the room. _John? No. This can't be happening. This has to be a bad dream._ Cory, using his right hand, pinched his left arm as hard as he could, but nothing came out it. _No!_

"Cory Marsh, you are with Nicole Cartman."

Cory grumbled beneath his breath. _What? Mr. Garrison can't be serious! What am I going to say to Nikki? Why is he doing this to me?_

After all of the names were announced, Mr. Garrison began to pass out the eggs, each having his signature on them. "Now I'm going to give you the eggs. I have already signed my name onto them so if you break your egg and try to replace it, I'll know." After each group had received their egg, Mr. Garrison concluded, "You may begin."

Nikki's presence from Cory's right nearly made Cory jump. "Sup, bitch." Cory turned to Nikki, not saying a word. He gulped. unsure of what's to come. He didn't know what to say, nor did he know what he could say. "Glad you could be working with me, huh, bitch."

"Nikki, look, I know you're mad-"

"We're not talking about this now." Nikki looked around the classroom at the other children who seemed to be indulged in their partners and their own eggs. "Too many people. Comeon, we're coming to my house to get this done, whether you like it or not."

Cory, of course, knew that Nikki was only inviting him over so that she could interrogate him in private. But alas, there was nothing else he could do, and if he tried to avoid Nikki, she would likely tell on Mr. Garrison for not helping with the egg project. All he could do is play along and hope for the best, right? "Yeah, I'll go home with you." Cory let out a sigh. He then set his eyes upon John and Kelsey. Because of how loud the rest of the class was, it was too difficult to make out what either of them were saying. But he could see clearly that John had cocky expressions as he leaned closer to a nervous Kelsey. It made him angry that his nemesis was with the girl of his dreams. He watched a John continued to try to sway Kelsey.

However, Nikki's rude voice interrupted Cory. "Hey, are you actually going to do a damn thing or are you gonna sit there and stare at...off into space?"

Cory jumped from surprise. "What?"

Nikki nearly shoved the egg into Cory's face as she began to describe its features. "I drew the big circular eyes, gave it a smile, and put a tuft of brown hair, not from myself, and I was thinking of making a cradle. Seriously, what the fuck have you done?"

Cory gulped. "Nikki, I-"

Mr. Garrison turned his gaze upon Cory and Nikki as he lowered his glasses slightly. "Cory? Nicole? Is there a problem between you two?"

Nikki turned back to Mr. Garrison and shook his head. "No, Mr. Garrison. There is no problem." When Mr. Garrison then turned back to his computer, Nikki shot another angry glare at Cory. "You better meet me at my house after school so we can discuss the things. And help me with egg project, or bad things will happen to you. See you after school, bitch."

Cory slammed his head on his desk once again. What little ounce of optimism that was left in Cory drained completely. For the third time this week, he had this back against the wall figuratively. And for the third time this week, he had to play along with the next drama that would be in store for him, but he already knew that like usual, this rarely ever went his way. After all, it was how it always ended, right?

* * *

When Cory exited the school bus after school, he did not exit near his house, but rather at a much different bus stop. There was nothing but some trees and snow around along with a single children-crossing sign. Jumping out, he turned to his right to see Nikki jumping out of the bus and landing by his side. Other children that got off included Sam, Claire, Kelsey, and John. Without many words, they parted ways from Cory and Nikki. Nikki pulled out the egg from her pocket, smiling that it was still safe and sound. "My house is this way. Come." Nikki began to walk east and motioned Cory to come along, and Cory complied.

For about four minutes, the couple walked in silence, not exchanging any words. For Nikki, she wasn't sure how she was going to approach the Kelsey problem with Cory. She knew how sensitive Cory could be and she already learned so far that insulting Cory wouldn't work. On the other hand, she obviously can't let Cory know that she already knows about his crush or Cory would start begging her to try to matchmake the two.

Cory, on the other hand, had many things on his mind, such as if Kelsey really liked John, but more importantly, how is he going to explain to Nikki why he shoved Kelsey to the ground yesterday?

 _I guess I should try to make conversation with Cory, since we're gonna be around each other for a few hours._ "We should be about two more minutes out." Nikki's voice dragged Cory out of his thoughts. She clamped her mouth down as she waited how Cory would respond at her attempt at making civil conversation.

Cory met the short sentence with caution. He was usually accustomed to Nikki rejecting Cory (as most other girls, and kids in general, do to Cory), but at least there was cold comfort in him knowing that Nikki didn't immediately try to insult or attack him. "Uh huh."

Nikki sensed some discomfort in Cory's voice, but she shrugged it off. "You shoulda seen Sam today, he was going off about how he want's to build a cradle for his egg and take super good care of it. Me, I'm just thinking of putting the egg in a plastic container, because I'm lazy, and honestly, pretty sure you only need to not break the egg in order to get an A. Easy. Sam's pretty weird, haha."

"Me and Sam don't talk anymore," Cory stated.

"Why not?"

Cory cringed. He knew he immediately said the wrong words, and those words could lead down the path into something he did not want to reveal to Nikki, not at this time. "We got into an argument. I can't tell you about it, it's personal stuff. But yeah. We don't talk anymore." He took off his gloves and shoved them in the pockets of his jacket.

"Oh, that sucks." Nikki shook her head. "I mean, if it really is that bad, then I don't bug you for it." Cory sighed with relief, at least he wouldn't have to tell Nikki the truth. "But I still want to talk to you about you pushing Kelsey." Cory groaned in response. "Uh, we're here."

Nikki's house is exactly like most other houses in South Park. The only real difference is the color of the exterior of each house; in the Cartmans' case, their house is colored green. As soon as the two kids entered the front door, they were immediately greeted by Nikki's mother Red. A looked of surprise overtook Red as soon as she laid her eyes down upon Cory. "Cory! I didn't expect you to be here today."

"We're doing a school project." Nikki took out the egg that she decorated it and showed it to her mother from a distance. "This egg is like our baby and we're the parents."

"Oh, that project. I've done it before." Twenty years ago, Red had done that exact egg project in her 4th grade class, but Eric Cartman was not her partner. "It should be really easy, hon. So did you choose Cory as your partner?"

Nikki shook her head in response. "No, Mr. Garrison assigned us all our partners."

Red nodded. "Ah, I'll leave you two to it then. Call me if you need anything, Nikki."

Red then went into the kitchen and out of sight. Just then, Nikki's younger brother Martin came from the kitchen. Her brother was slightly on the heavier side, though nowhere nearly as fat as Eric Cartman used to be. His brown hair was curly and messy, and he wore a brown T-shirt and black pants. "Nikki, is Cory your boyfriend?"

Nikki fluttered her eyelashes a little as she looked up at the ceiling, giving Martin a sarcastic look. "No, Marty, he ain't my boyfriend."

Martin snickered beneath his shirt. He smirked as he began to say his next piece. "Do you want to fuck him?"

Cory immediately blushed, his cheeks burning bright red. Nikki's eyes both dilated, her glare full of fury. "Shut up, Martin."

Martin snickered even louder, despite him covering his mouth with both his hands. "You do, don'tcha?"

Nikki took off her gloves and shoved them in the pockets of her jacket. She then rolled up her sleeves and clenched and cracked her knuckles. "Shut up or I'll kick your ass!"

"I'm gonna tell mom if you do." Martin brought his hands together behind his butt as he swayed back and forth, a mischievous smile flashing on his face.

"Let's just go, Cory." Nikki rolled down her sleeves, grabbed Cory's left hand with her right hand, and quickly marched upstairs, leading him on. Before either of the older children could hear anything else from Martin, Nikki quickly dragged Cory into her room and shut the door. Her room was similar to Cory's, in which it was neat and tidy. The only difference is that the interior is green instead of Cory's blue interior from his own blue house. Other than that, Nikki's bed was placed just underneath the front window, like Cory's. Nikki plopped down on her own bed and sighed. "Sorry 'bout that. My brother, he just hears what kids in our class say. Thinks it makes him sound older."

Cory gave a modest nod. "It's fine. I understand."

Nikki was relieved with the sincerity of Cory's voice. _Yeah, my own idiot brother knows the definition of the word "fuck" since he was four._ She pulled out the egg from her pants pocket, which she found was still intact, to her relief. "Guess we work on the egg. The one I worked on the whole time earlier."

"I'm - I'm sorry I didn't help you earlier today." Cory sat down between Nikki and her pillow. "I just...I was just distracted."

Nikki had a hunch of what exactly distracted Cory from concentrating on their own project, but first, there were more pressing questions on her own mind. "I came off like a bitch yesterday, but I really want to know why you pushed my friend down. Like she's my friend, and seeing you push her down just...pissed me off, you know? You know what I'm try'na say?"

Cory knew he could evade this question know longer. He didn't want to lie nor did he want to tell the truth, but the problem is that Nikki is his project partner, and he really wasn't in any position to turn anyone down. Maybe if he was lucky enough, he might gain a new friend, and more importantly one who was female and pretty. Lastly, he couldn't hold everything in any longer, he had to share it with someone who actually has a good sense on what to do with the knowledge. It can't be his parents, for obvious reasons. Sam already knows, but likes to tease him for it. Either way, as insensitive as Nikki has seemed in the past, she was his best shot. "If I tell you...can you promise not to tell anyone? If John finds out I told you, I'm dead."

Nikki reluctantly nodded her head. "Tell me."

"Alright..." Cory took a deep breath. "The truth is, and I know it sounds stupid, but I actually have a crush on Kelsey." Nikki rolled her eyes since she had already knew this in advance, but fortunately Cory didn't catch her eyeroll. "It's just...John Donovan, you know him right?" Nikki did not say anything, but she sat up straight, leaning close to Cory, ready to listen everything. "He has me do lots of dares so that I can hand out with him and his friends, and if I don't do them, he says he'll reveal all my secrets."

"What kind of things does he make you do?" Nikki asked. "I won't tell anyone.

Cory shook his head. "I can't tell you. They're really bad." He didn't trust Nikki enough, and frankly, John and his friends could sell Cory out anytime they wanted at this point, so it's not like Nikki will never know. "Anyways, so Sam was teasing me against yesterday about Kelsey. Then John must have heard because he was the one who wanted me to...push Kelsey to the ground."

Nikki's eyes opened with disgust. "W-w-why?"

"He said something about 'competition' and the End-Of-The-Year dance." Cory shrugged. "I don't remember what though."

"That fucking asshole!" Nikki clenched her fists, her face becoming redder with rage. "I can't believe he would use you like that...ok, I _can_ believe he would use you like that. But still...Cory, has it ever occurred to you that he made you push Kelsey to manipulate her into hating you?"

"What?" Cory began to see what Nikki meant. He then realized what John meant by competition. And like what he did when PC Counselor gave clues about his conception, he sorted the pieces together. "No...no...this can't be..."

"Sorry, Cory, but you got the short end of the stick, man." Nikki's chuckled in a sarcastic tone, which didn't make Cory feel any better. She then frowned. "Ok, that was distasteful of me. But seriously, he did that so that Kelsey hates you, because John is so insecure about himself that he would have to cheat his way through life like that."

"I can't believe that asshole! God, I hate him so much!" Nikki had never seen Cory this angry in a long time.

Nikki put her hands on Cory's left shoulder. "Cory, you gotta calm down. It's like what you said, if John finds out you told me, you're pretty much boned, man."

Between Nikki's touch, and the point she made, Cory's anger quickly deflated as it rose. He leaned back onto Nikki's bed. Placing his right forearm on top of his eyes, he began to cry again. "Oh God, what am I going to do?" Cory began to sob more. "I'm - I'm just trapped. I don't know what to do."

Nikki pulled Cory up to sit upright, then put her arm around Cory. "It's alright. It's not your fault. It's not fair for me to blame you..." Nikki's next words became soft with a bit of sarcasm. "...even though you knew full well what you were doing."

"It's not just that," Cory continued. "It's like...it's like no matter what I do, people just hate me, you know? It's like I'm never supposed to be happy, because I get jerks who pick on me. It's like...I'm never supposed to exist."

The last five words pierced Nikki in the heart. As much as it hurt Cory, it also reminded her of her own past. Nevertheless, the difference between her and Cory is that she already knew from years ago and she learned to deal with the truth. And the way she dealt with these problems best was that she would just laugh it off and turn it into a sardonic, sarcastic joke. "Look man. You're an accident. I'm an accident. We're all accidents. But it's not that big of a deal, you know, you shouldn't let it bug you that much. We're both thrown onto this planet, might as well make the best of it, right? Haha." Nikki chuckled a little. She took her arm off Cory and turned to Cory only to be met by a silent Cory an his cold, dead stare. Anyone who showed that kind of face would scare the other person, and for Nikki, it unnerved her. "Ok. That was pretty rude." She continued before Cory could make a bitter remark. "But my point is that you gotta keep, positive, ya know? Gotta look on the bright side, man."

Cory grumbled a little. "That's what Sam tells me all the time."

Nikki laughed a little. "No, you see, the difference between my advice and Sam's is that Sam just sucks. He's - he's just a shit person, you know?"

"I appreciate your sarcastic humor, Nikki, but he really did cause my problems in the first place." Cory let out a growl. "Teasing me about my crush daily, and he's trying to make me see 'the light of the world', what a fuckin' joke. He has the gall to act all nice to me for months, but the way I see it he's just a douche. Then he 'accidentally' tells John. What next, John tells the whole world?"

"Well actually..." Nikki hesitated in saying the next piece. "...Kelsey and I both knew you had a crush on her. For a looong time."

"What? How? Who told you?"

"No one ever did." Nikki began to laugh again. "I mean, you made it fairly obvious, we both can see the way you stare at her every single day. How you blush all the time when she's near you. Cory, we both know you're super obsessed with her." Then it hit her. That was likely a huge contributing factor to why Cory was acting so moody for a long time. He was super obsessed with Kelsey, but he had a poor self image and poor popularity at school. "That's why you were acting super weird when Mr. Garrison announced partners today, huh?" Cory slowly nodded. Everything made sense to Nikki now.

"Y-yes," Cory softly said.

Nikki's phone vibrated all of a sudden. She saw the text from Natalie Black that said, _Yes, we do have to build a cradle._ "Goddamnit." Cory turned to Nikki, wondering what her sudden frustration was about. "Ok, we actually have to take care of our egg like we would a baby. Like we have to build a cradle and shit...we should probably get working. We wasted alot of time already."

"Agreed."

* * *

"So how's the date coming along?"

"Dad, it's not a date." Nikki rolled her eyes as she set her eyes down upon her own meal at the dinner table. It was a fairly modest meal of bread, steak, and string beans in their pods. Eric and Red sat next to each other on one side of the table, and Nikki and Martin sat on the other.

"Maybe you should-" Martin began to say.

Nikki immediately pointed at her six-year-old brother, interrupting him. "Shut it. Not another word out of you." She then turned back to both her parents. "The project is coming along fine. We're doing great. We're almost done with our stupid cradle." Nikki shook her head. "Seriously, I don't get the point of this stupid project."

"Well aside from giving the basics of being a parent," Red said, "the idea is also about learning how to cooperate and deal with kids of the opposite gender, since you will have to deal with them later on in your life."

"Well that's a pretty terrible premise, mom, because as far as I know, Cory's not like the other guys at school, like at all." Nikki ate another string bean. "Trust me. That said...do you...do you ever worry about the Marsh family?"

Eric and Red looked at each other, and both just shrugged at each other in confusion. "They're doing pretty well to me, right Red?"

Red nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I don't see anything wrong with either of their parents, why do you ask?"

Nikki rubbed her chin. She didn't want to get Cory into any sort of trouble, but she doesn't want to sound like an idiot either. And she especially did not want to incite her little brother to say something stupid, especially since it's very likely to her that the little pest eavesdropped on her conversation with Cory. "I know him for a pretty long time. But at the same time, he still like an enigma to me. I don't know. It doesn't seem like he ever talks to anyone about his problems, even his parents. I don't want to get him into any sort of trouble, it's just...I don't know."

Eric gave Red a glance telling her that it was better that she handled it. Red nodded. "Everyone has inner turmoil that they have to deal with. No one is perfect. With that said, if you really care about Cory that much...you should talk with him more about it at school. Have him open up to you. Besides, having a pretty girl like yourself to talk to could be a huge boost in his confidence." The last sentence made Red giggle.

Seconds later, Eric and Martin began laughing and Nikki rolled her eyes and growled. "Mom, I told you we aren't dating."

"I know, hon."

Despite the antics Nikki's parents pulled on her, she knew that in the back of her mind that nothing was going to be easy. More importantly, she didn't know what the future held in store for either of them. But as far as she knew, she hoped for the best - for her own grade on her project and the drama of what's to come.

* * *

 **So what I intended to do with Nikki's personality is that I modeled her personality closely off of one of my other OC's from one of my previous stories. The inherited would be Cole Dimmons (whose own personality was modeled off of Cartman and Kyle), so in a way, to me it seemed consistent with being Eric Cartman's daughter. Since that has been said, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Until next time.**


	4. Chapter 4: Ill Omens

**Hey guys. So this chapter was supposed to be done about a week ago. Unfortunately, I got delayed for a number of reasons, the first being that my laptop broke down and it took a week for it to be repaired, and even then, I had to wipe out most files on my laptop. Second, I honestly wasn't sure how to make this chapter or what this chapter would be about. This chapter was actually fairly hard to write for me. That said, here it is, completed.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

"Wake up, Claire honey! You're gonna be late for school!"

"Oh darn." Claire Stotch could feel her head spinning as her mother's voice rang through her ears, interrupting her sleep. Her eyelids immediately fully opened as soon as she was able to read clock on the nightstand that showed 7:30. "Oh hamburgers."

Claire jolted out of bed with a start as the morning sun. She looked out the window and it's a beautiful Wednesday morning. Putting on a bright teal jacket and dark green pants, she went over to the restroom to comb her blonde hair. On the counter, she saw two dark green scrunchies, so she quickly but carefully tied her hair into pigtails and held them together with the scrunchies. Claire then went downstairs to the kitchen to see a plate of sunny-side-egg, two pieces of toast, and the two people who already began to brighten her day. "Hello dad! Hello mom!"

"Good morning sunshine!" Butters Stotch took out orange juice from the refrigerator and set it on the table. "I hope you make ready for another day at school!"

Claire sat down next to her mother Lola Stotch, previously Lola Evans. "So Claire, how's the egg project coming along?"

"Me and Sam are working pretty nice on it. Boy oh boy, we both already almost finished the cradle. And Sam himself, he's a pretty nice guy." Claire rubbed her chin as another though hit her, one that she wasn't sure if she could share out loud with her parents. _And I don't really get all the fuss is about with him and Cory anyways. Heck, I don't get why Nikki and Kelsey are always hiding about Cory and stuff, seems a bit fishy to me._

"Sam's dad - I know him pretty good." Butters began to tap on the wooden table a little bit as Claire and Lola ate their breakfast. "Kyle is his name. Although it's pretty weird, seeing how Kyle and his own son aren't that much alike."

"He seems more like Bebe," Lola replied. "The son, I mean. He's pretty cheerful, funny. Kind of a ditz sometimes, I think. You know what I mean?"

"Aw, don't say that Lola, why their son is a pretty nice guy." Butters then sat down at the dining table with the other two. "Comeon, Claire, you don't wanna be late for school again."

Claire Stotch is one of the two children in the Stotch household. The other child is Hector Stotch, who is only 4 months old and is still sleeping soundly upstairs. Like her father Butters, Claire upholds an attitude of innocence; she is full of sweetness, gullibility, and the perspective of a typical child, which one could argue is very unlike most other children in this town (the lack of innocence is amplified by a combination of the children being "accidents" and South Park culture still withstanding).

After Claire finished eating, she swung her purple backpack over her shoulder and began to walk out the door, the last words she heard from her mom being "Have a great day, Claire!"

Claire stepped out of her home and onto the sidewalk, the Wednesday morning sun shining brightly upon her. After fifteen minutes of being driven to school by her own father, after Claire jumped out of the car, and after Butters departed after he and his daughter exchanged proper farewells, Claire turned to face the school. Radiant with optimism and energy, she began to march forth to the front doors of the school. A crowd gathered in front of Claire, and as quickly as it gathered, the crowd charged through the front door screaming with joy for school. Claire's eyes wandered onto a certain black-haired boy with a purple jacket, whose body was caught in the mass wave of students, sent him toppling down onto the marble floor for perhaps the third time this week. Claire put her right hand over her mouth and let out a modest giggle, the Marsh boy's misfortune bringing a humorous view to her eyes.

 _Gee whiz. That sucks._

Walking past Cory and most of the other students, Claire went towards her locker. As she was about to round a left corner, she saw Nikki and Kelsey standing in front of her locker, whose own lockers were next to Claire's. As soon as the latter two girls came into view, Claire immediately did a double-take and shuffled back behind the wall. She slowly peered out, her ears ready to listen. "So what'd you learn about Cory?" Kelsey asked. "Do you know why he pushed me down?" The mention of Cory immediately stopped Claire. For whatever reason, whenever Cory is brought up between the two other girls, they become so secretive, it struck Claire extremely suspiciously. Neither girl would tell anyone else anything, much less Claire herself. It annoyed Claire, she too wanted in on everyone's secrets, so Claire decided to take more drastic measures.

"Cory...the guy is a total disaster." Nikki shook her head. "He's..." Nikki sighed again. Claire took a closer look at Nikki's face, her frustrated facial expressions revealing that she was struggling to find the right words. "It's hard to say, but I'll say it the best I can. The guy...even to me, he's like an...he's like an enigma. But...but if there's one thing I know, it's that the way the kids in our grade were born...Cory seems bothered by it, you know?"

Claire already knew of the way she was created, this was no surprise to her. But of course, that didn't stop her. Like Butters, she was always finding ways to work on making herself stronger. That said, she eavesdropped more; surely, there had to be something else other than things Claire already knew. "That bothered him? Really?" Kelsey sounded rather annoyed.

"Well, it does Kelsey," Nikki replied. "I know it sounds dumb to you, but Cory is still bugged by that fact."

"Well this tells me nothing, do you know why he pushed me down?"

"Well..." Nikki closed her eyes and sighed. Kelsey peered closer at her best friend. "There's alot of things he told me. Things he didn't want me to tell you. It's dark shit going on." But Claire had zero context, zero clue of what is going on. All of Nikki's words so far seemed to be meaningless.

 _Comeon, gals, just get on with it already!_

"Can't you tell me?" Kelsey asked impatiently.

"Comeon, Kelsey, you know me, when someone gives me a secret, I intend to keep it. I can't just go blather off people's shit to everyone. That makes me untrustworthy. You wouldn't trust me with your own secrets if I do that shit, would you?" Nikki shrugged. "That said, when I talked to him, he made it clear he still has a crush on you - even though we both knew this already for a while."

Claire could not believe what she heard. So this must be why the two are so secretive when it comes down to Cory. Cory has a crush on Kelsey. On one hand, she could see it, Kelsey was very pretty. On the other hand, Cory did push Kelsey down. But there were tales where boys would hurt girls because they liked them - but that wouldn't make much sense to most people. All of this confusion and contradiction made Claire's brain hurt. "Holy moley," Claire muttered beneath her breath. She then let out a soft, gleeful giggle. "Oh my gosh, I can't wait to tell the Pleases and Sparkles Club at school."

"So what you're saying..." Kelsey said, "...is that someone tipped Cory off. Or threatened him. But who? Do you know, Nikki?"

"No." Nikki said this with less confidence than usual, but Claire detected nothing off of Nikki's tone voice. That mattered not to her however, just the alone fact that Cory had a crush on Kelsey was enough of a dealbreaker for Claire herself.

"Well please don't tell me that it's not one of those stupid tales where boys make fun of girls or something because they really like them," Kelsey said.

"I don't think that it works like that, and I don't think that Cory wanted to push you down anyways," Nikki replied.

"Comeon, let's get to class. Can't be late again." Nikki and Kelsey then slammed their lockers shut and walked away from Claire, and rounded a left corner out of sight. Cory then walked past Claire without saying a word, came around the corner, then went to open his locker.

 _Phew!_ Claire turned around only to see Sam, making her jump. "Oh hamburgers!"

"Damn, I barely even scared you, haha." Sam let out a soft yawn, then pointed two fingers at Claire. "So, you got the egg?"

"Egg?" Claire immediately checked her pockets. She felt nothing but her phone in her front right pocket of her pants. She then opened all the compartments of her backpack, frantically checking each one, but found no sign of the egg, her heart tumping. "Oh no, I think I lost it!"

"Hahaha!" Claire looked up to see Sam pull out the egg from his own shirt pocket. "Damn, I got you good, huh?"

"Wow, you're pretty funny!" Claire exclaimed. "Wow, close call."

* * *

Class for the most part wasn't anymore interesting. Mr. Garrison first reminded his students of what to do and what not to do with the eggs. He then did a twenty minute routine of math and English. Nothing interesting happened during morning recess, and after morning recess, Mr. Garrison then went off to talk about pop culture, this time talking about Kanye West once again becoming Aquaman and how he visited the underwater city of Atlantis where he met Spongebob Squarepants. Then lunchtime came around.

Claire stood in line for about ten minutes in the cafeteria before she manage to be able to get into the serving area. The man who served the children was a fat African American man wearing a white apron, red T-shirt, blue jeans, brown shoes, and a chef's hat on his head. "Hello there, children!"

"Hey Chef!" Claire and a few other children said.

"Hey Chef, tell us the story of how you came back from the dead!" A fourth grade boy in front of Claire who wasn't in Claire's class asked.

"Well, I don't have much time, but long story short, there were five children, one of them who were Dovahkiin, who came to Sovngarde to save me." Chef's mouth opened with happiness. "It was the greatest thing I've ever witnessed. Just twenty years ago, five children from this exact town facing all odds to take down the evil Terrorblade and ressurect me. Has anyone told you that story?"

"No," the nearby children replied.

"Well, you're holding up the line children. I'll make sure your teachers tell you some other time. Now go."

Lunch was pasta and spaghetti Wednesday. When Claire got her own tray, she met up with her own friends at their own lunch table. Notably, Nikki and Kelsey were absent, but the rest of the popular girls Linda Anderson, Kelly Leone, Natalie Black, Susan Stoley, Cindy Tucker, Leslie Donovan, Helen Tweak. Claire still wore a grin from what she had heard about Cory and Kelsey earlier today.

"Has anyone seen Nikki and Kelsey?" Susan asked. "Where are they?"

"They said they were going to the bathroom," Linda replied.

"You know those two, they're really close to each other anyways, it's like they're like heterosexual life partners or something." The rest of the girls made small laughter from Cindy's comment.

Leslie Donovan, John Donovan's twin sister, peered searchingly at Claire's absent-minded grin. While Claire usually upheld optimism, there was something going on in Claire's mind. Something Leslie wanted to know. "You look like you're laughing. What's so funny, Claire?" Leslie Donovan had long brown hair and wore a pink jacket with a red collar, purple pants, and a purple beret.

"Oh, nothing." Claire could barely contain her giggles however, and by then, the whole table turned their attention to Claire.

But before anyone could say anything else, Nikki and Kelsey both arrived with their pasta on their lunch trays. The two stunning girls both sat down. Very quickly did both girls' attention turn towards the giggling Claire. "What?" they spoke in unison.

"Oh...I just gotta use the bathroom." Claire got up from the table and dashed away from the cafeteria and out the doors into the hallways before anyone could stop her. When she got to the girl's bathroom, she bent down to check underneath every toilet stall to make sure she was alone. Afterwards, she stood up and she began laughing again. The thought of Cory having a crush on Kelsey - or any boy having a crush on any girl - humored her. Her innocent mind didn't understand much about attractions, and found it funny.

The bathroom door opened and in came Leslie, catching Claire in the act of laughing her ass off. Impatience and suspicion overtook the Donovan girl as she crossed her arms, glaring at the Stotch girl. "So are you gonna tell me why the hell you're so weird today?" Claire did not reply immediately, however, she wanted to savor the moment. Therefore, Leslie badgered on. "What's going on, Claire? What's wrong with you?"

On the other hand, Claire could hold it in no longer. She had to tell the whole world, it was a secret too juicy and dicey to keep. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Do you know Cory Marsh has a crush on Kelsey McCormick? I just found out today!"

Leslie's face contorted in disgust. "Uh, ew? Do you know how embarrassing that is for Kelsey and for us?"

"Embarrassing?" Claire only shot back a look of confusion. "Huh, I thought boys having crushes on girls was just super weird."

"Well, Claire, Cory is a creep and a loser and a pervert, and we don't want him to be associated with any of us, that's what I mean," Leslie replied. "We've talked about this before, but it bears repeating. Seriously, you can't tell anyone, so keep your mouth shut."

"Why not tell the whole world? If everyone knows and makes fun of Cory for it, then maybe Cory will stop having a crush on her." Despite Claire's usual good nature, she was not immune to the temptation of spreading juicy gossip for the sake of publicity and drama.

"Claire..." Slowly, a grin formed on Leslie as she pointed at Claire with her right hand, "...it's risky, but you are a genius." Leslie began to head for the doorway, but before she opened the door to the school hallways, she turned back to Claire with one last look and one last question on her mind. "Just one thing: who told you this? It doesn't make sense that Cory has a crush on Kelsey when he pushed her down like two days ago."

"Well I heard Nikki and Kelsey talk about it today," Claire replied. "Their words, not mine."

Leslie rubbed her chin and nodded. "Interesting. So they already know about this yet they refuse to tell anyone else. This is actually mind boggling." Leslie paced the bathroom floor for a bit. "I don't know what to make out of this. Alot of things here don't even add up. Like Claire - let's say that hypothetically, you have a crush on a guy here at school. Would you push him or beat him up or hurt him in any way?"

"No," Claire replied.

"Exactly, right?" Leslie stopped in her tracks as she faced the mirror. "If what you, Nikki, and Kelsey say is true about Cory, and if Cory still has feelings for Kelsey, then maybe Cory was dared. Or tricked. Or even coerced. What do you think about this?"

"I think we should tell everyone at school," Claire replied, "like I said before, make everyone know and get the real story out. It's like the Kardashians!"

"Um...what?" Leslie shook her head. "I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that. But yeah, tell everyone, and we're gonna make sure of it. Sure that everyone knows, then hopefully we'll get the real story. After all, what could possibly happen?"

* * *

When Claire exited the school bus after school, she exited at a certain bus stop historical to the previous generation. There was nothing but some trees and snow around along with a single children-crossing sign. Jumping out, she turned to her left to see Sam jumping out of the bus and landing by her side. Other children that got off included Cory, Nikki, Kelsey, and John. Without many words, they parted ways from Claire and Sam. Sam pulled out the egg from his pocket, smiling that it was still safe and sound. "My house is this way. Come." Sam began to walk east and motioned Claire to come along, and Claire complied.

"So how was your day today?" Claire asked.

"It's fine," Sam replied. "It's alright, could be better though. Most of the boys in our grade gave Charlie Brown a wedgie and then we hung him on top of a tether-ball pole using his underwear."

"Aw, I feel bad for the poor little guy." Claire then raised an eyebrow at Sam. "Were you the one giving him the wedgie, Sam? That's not very nice."

"What? Just so you know, I never ever laid a finger on Charlie Brown. Ever." Every word out of Sam's mouth was nothing but truth. But then Sam began snickering. "Of course, it was just too funny, you should have been there lunch recess. Dude, Charlie just takes everything in the ass. I could almost say _literally_ too."

"Ugh!" Claire's face contorted with disgust at the thought of Sam's last sentence.

"The guy's pretty dorky, though, and I'm not about to go against like thirty other guys for the sake of being the 'white knight', so what am I gonna do?" Sam shrugged. "It's just harmless f-f..." But Sam lost his wording. Everything he thought that was harmless fun turned out not so harmless. Like all the times that he teased Cory about himself, and already he had a dead feeling that it was going to bite him back in the ass hard sooner or later. "I-I should probably go see if Cory is alright tomorrow."

"And Charlie, I mean you fellas did give him a wedgie." Sam rolled his eyes at Claire's response.

Sam's house was just like any other, only colored dark green. When he and Claire entered the house, the two were immediately welcomed by Sam's parents Kyle and Bebe. "Hi, Sam," Kyle greeted.

"Hi dad, hi mom," Sam replied.

"Ooh, is that Claire?" Bebe cheerily waved at Claire. "Hey there! Tell your parents we said hi! Is your mom still working at the bank?"

"Yeah," Claire replied. "She still works at Chase. Both of my parents are doing pretty swell."

"Are you two still working on that egg project?" Kyle asked. "I thought you two should be done by now."

"No, we're turning it in tomorrow," Sam replied, "why, dad?"

"Oh um..." Kyle then began to chuckle a little, to the confusion of the two children. "Your teacher is Mr. Garrison, right?" When Sam and Claire both nodded in response, Kyle continued on. "Yeah, I did an egg project too...funny story, I also had your teacher too while I did that project. He paired me with another guy, and used it as a platform to try to stop gay marriage."

"Why would Mr. Garrison do something like that?" Sam was never one to be against gay marriage, or gay rights in general. Then again, Sam then remembered that this was _the Mr. Garrison_ Kyle was talking about, and as Sam already knew, Mr. Garrison is a less-than-mentally-stable person (the nicest way to phrase it).

"Well it's a long story, but do you both know Mr. Slave?" Both Sam and Claire nodded at Kyle's question. "Well, Mr. Garrison used to be in love with Mr. Slave, but gay marriage wasn't supported, so he got a sex change into a woman."

Bebe laughed. "Oh my gosh, I totally remember those few weeks when Mr. Garrison wouldn't stop talking about his vagina getting pounded."

"Bebe, not in front of the kids," Kyle retorted.

"But Mr. Garrison is a guy now," Sam replied, "so that means that he must have gotten another sex change."

"He eventually became a man again a few weeks later," Kyle continued, "but Mr. Slave no longer found Mr. Garrison attractive because he became a woman, so Mr. Slave went off to try marry some other guy named 'Big Gay Al'. Problem is that gay marriage wasn't legalized at that time, so Mr. Garrison was trying to stop it. Obviously, as you can see, Mr. Garrison failed at that. Anyway, as I've said, Mr. Garrison eventually sex changed into a man again. Well, that's the story. Would you kids like to know anything else?" Sam and Claire were both at a loss for words, still starstruck by the incredible story told to them. "Well, don't dwell on what I said too much. Have fun with the project kids."

"And remember to keep the bedroom door open, Sam." Kyle rolled his eyes at Bebe's implied message.

"Ok, mom, and maybe I should 'protect' myself while we're at it too, haha." Sam weaved his head side-to-side as he made his snarky response at this mother. "Seriously mom, there's nothing between us."

When Sam and Claire reached the top of the stairs, they were both met by a six-year-old girl. The girl had short blonde hair that went to her neck, green eyes like Sam, Kyle, and Bebe, and wore blue jeans and a pink sweatshirt. She eyed Claire up and down, then turned to Sam. "Hi Sam. Who's the pretty girl?"

Sam motioned to Claire. "Kailey, this is Claire Stotch. You-you've seen her before."

"Do you like her, Sammy?" Kailey asked.

"What? Not like that!" Sam shook his head profusely. "Why you gotta ask that every time I bring a girl here?"

"Nothing, tee hee."

* * *

After Sam and Claire finished off their cradle and the rest of the features on their own egg, they sat down on Sam's bed. The room was fairly neat since Sam put away leftover clothes when he and Claire came into the room. Evidence showed that Sam does not share his room with Kailey, so his bedroom is not unlike most other ten-year-old boys'. Sam's bedroom door was open, as what his mother told him. Sam looked back at his own egg, the eyes rounded, the black tuft of hear glued neatly, and some golden glitter gave the egg flair on it's "cheeks". Sam smiled like how his egg "smiled". "We did good, Claire, we did good."

"Oh boy, we're gonna get an A for sure!" Claire cheered.

"So what do you want to do now?" Sam asked. "I mean, I have some video games, or we can go to the park and play basketball, or maybe-"

"Why don't we play girl talk?" Claire suggested. "I have some stuff to share actually."

"Girl talk? You mean gossip?" Sam rubbed his chin. Whatever Claire had to say, Sam was sure that he wouldn't mind, and he was sure that this wouldn't concern him anyhow...or was he? "Alright, who died this time?"

Claire giggled. "No one died, Sam, but uh, did you know that Cory Marsh has a crush on Kelsey McCormick? It's super weird and it's super embarrassing. But it's also super weird because didn't he push her down two days ago?"

Sam immediately went pale after hearing that. How does Claire know? Did Claire eavesdrop on Sam along with John when he was teasing Cory? Or was there something else sinister in his wake? And what could this possibly mean for Sam? "How'd you find this out? How many people know about hits?"

"Oh silly, everyone's gonna know by tomorrow." Claire immediately began laughing. "Oh gosh, I mean Cory's a nice guy and all, but he's a little dorky. He's super weird. And creepy. And a jerk for pushing Kelsey. Actually, I don't really like him at all, now that I realize it."

"He's a little scatterbrained and absent-minded, but most of my friends and your friends aren't doing Cory any favors." Sam let out a long, drawn sigh. "And they can be kinda mean to him." _Well, I didn't exactly help Cory either._

Claire shook her head, a look of seriousness on her face forming. "Well the way I see it, any guy who hurts girls is no good news in my books. Why, if I were in your shoes today, I would have wedgied Cory on that tether ball pole instead of Charlie Brown like what you fellas did to him today. Charlie Brown is nice and smart, and I'm surprised not alot of girls like him."

Sam raised an eyebrow, disgusted by Claire's statement "Really? You'd pick Charlie Brown? That guy is completely obnoxious! He thinks he's so smart because he can read _War and Peace_ , hell, I don't think he even read that book ever. He thinks that just because he can recite every Shakespeare play, that makes him entitled to be the number one guy at school. I mean, my friends pick on him for being nerdy, but I legit don't like that guy." Sam shook his head. "Cory, though, he's not that bad at all. He's not a braggart, but...at the same time, I don't think he feels the same way about me. You know, I have a feeling deep down, Cory actually hates me." Sam then glared at Claire. "This conversation is just between you and me. Because you. I know you. But seriously, Claire, don't tell anyone."

"I'll try," Claire replied.

Sam shook his head. "Don't try. Do. I mean, do not. I mean, do not tell anyone - ah, hell, you know what I mean."

"What do you even see in Cory though?" Claire asked.

"I knew him. Knew him for years." Sam sighed again. "He's awkward and shy, but it's not because his parents are abusive. They're actually really good people. Honestly, I blame the kids that go to our school. I mean, obviously, Cory isn't the only kid who gets bullied at our school, you know this."

"Well, he's just always super obsessed with girls, he's just super duper weird," Claire replied. "I also heard that he's super clingy too, like his parents. He's always trying to be some poser or copycat."

"He's clingy, but that's because he hasn't had a real friend," Sam replied. "He's a really nice guy. But alot of people are mean to him."

"What about Charlie, then?" Claire said. "Alot of people are mean to him too."

"That's different though, Charlie has friends. Nerdy friends, but still friends."

"Then why'd you gang up on him today and hung him by his underwear on a tether ball pole?"

"Because he was being an ass," Sam replied. "He wouldn't shut up about books, or how unlucky he is all the time. And mind you, Charlie Brown also has a little sister and a dog to back him up. Cory's kinda like a longer."

"I don't think it's that big of a deal," Claire replied.

"It's a pretty big deal," Sam countered.

"Then we can agree to disagree."

That was the end of it. As the conversation progressed, Sam and Claire both realized how much they disagreed with each other on their views on Cory - and on people in general. Both, stern with discontent, refused to eye each other. Claire felt that Sam was completely delusional and blind with loyalty that he could never see Cory's faults. Meanwhile, Sam realized that beneath Claire's outside "good girl" attitude lied nothing but venom. Either way, they would both continue to remain civil with each other for now.

Hours after Claire left, the Broflovski family sat around the dinner table, Kyle's, Bebe's, and Kailey's plates nothing but leftover bones and scraps and sauce residue. Sam, on the other hand, was slower than usual at eating, his potatoes, spinach, and fish only half-eaten. "What's wrong, Sam?" Bebe asked. "You barely touched your dinner."

"School's just stressful," Sam replied. "It's just stupid drama. Nothing else."

"Would you like to talk about it?" Bebe asked.

Sam thought about it for a second. But based on what he and Cory have done in the past, it would not be exactly prudent to do so "No. I'd rather not."

It wouldn't end there. Perhaps the ride would never end. In the back of Sam's mind, as he dreadfully continued to finish his dinner, he knew that he was already losing a friend, that being Cory. Then, just today, he realized that he might have gained an enemy, that being Claire. It reminded him of most of Claire's group of friends, who held a mutual dislike for Cory, as far as Sam knew. And while Cory might hate Sam now, Sam still felt guilty for what he did to Cory and what he made Cory do.

* * *

 **This was originally not supposed to be about Claire and Sam, but they exist in this story, so heck, why not? Plus, pretty sure people also want to see the adult pairings too. I did my best not to botch up the adults, or any other character for the matter, but at the same time, unfortunately, I ran out of ideas on what to talk about for this chapter, and I couldn't really find any more filler to place into this story.**

 **Now, someone mentioned how much of a coincidence for an entire generation to forget how to use birth control. I'm still brainstorming an answer to that question, but that probably isn't gonna pop up for a while.**

 **Until next time.**


	5. Chapter 5: Secret War

**Sorry for being so late, the big delay was because a combination of just having alot of work to do recently as well as some confusion about how to write this chapter. With that said, I hope you guys enjoy the next chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

The alarm clock kept through Nikki's ears, jolting her from her dreamless sleep instantly. Reactively, she stumbled squirmed around in her bed for a little bit, getting herself tangled and caught inside my own blanket. She immediately slapped her own face and groaned. "Ugh. Not this again." Instinctively, Nikki held her left arm up in the air and, without looking, slammed her hand downwards. _Whatever, I'll just sleep in a bit more._

The yells of Eric Cartman, however, woke Nikki again. "Nikki! Wake up! You're going to be late for school!"

Nikki groaned again. _Could my dad be less bothersome?_ She slowly opened her eyes and turned herself so that she lied on her left side, and her eyes drifted to the clock on her nightstand that read 7:36. _Shit. I forgot it was Thursday today, which means school._ Nikki quickly jolted out of bed, took off her pajamas, put on her gray jacket with the hood down, blue pants, and purple gloves, grabbed her light blue backpack, and ran downstairs, her brown locks trying to cover my vision. She almost tripped on one of the steps, and grabbed the right-side railing to regain balance. When Nikki reached downstairs and into the kitchen, her father shot her a stoic look on his face. "So you forgot it was school today?"

"Yeah...yes." Nikki breathed out a bit, still tired from just being woken up and having to change clothing quickly and running down the stairs, almost tripping along the way. Nikki walked over to the cabinet, took out a box of corn flakes, poured some in a green ceramic bowl, put the box back in the cabinet, got out a gallon of milk from the refrigerator, poured a modest amount into her bowl of corn flakes, put away the corn flakes in the refrigerator, and sat down on the table to enjoy her rather bland breakfast. "Say, where's mom?"

Eric looked at his own reflection via the glass door to the backyard, admiring his body. He was still a bit heavier than the rest of his male friends, but he wasn't nearly as obese as he used to be. Many (including Kyle and Wendy) said that Eric changed his image from the moment he started dating Red during his senior year in high school to impress her. Others (including Stan and Kenny) argued that Eric was tired of being made fun of his own weight. And yet a select few believed that Eric realized the damage his previous lifestyle was inflicting upon his health. No matter what though, the end result would still be the same. "She had to take your brother early today, for the field trip to the planetarium. I look very nice, yes."

 _So that would explain why I didn't hear any nagging from Martin, or the fact that I wasn't slapped from my sleep._ Nikki ate two spoonfuls of her cereal before she continued on. After hearing his father admire himself, Nikki made a sly smirk. "A bit narcissistic, are we, dad?"

Eric rolled his eyes. "Oh please, ho, it's not like you aren't the same." While calling your own daughter a "ho" is questionable at best, Eric knew his own daughter like the back of his hand. He knew she could take an insult like that.

Nikki expected her father to talk back, but she didn't expect to be called a "ho". "Don't let mom catch you saying that dad, you know what happened last time, you know what happened the last time you called Mrs. Marsh a ho." Nikki giggled at the recollection of the memory of Wendy ranting, yelling, and borderline verbally abusing Eric in front of a Victoria's Secret in the South Park Mall, back when Nikki was only three years old.

Eric shook his head in embarrassment. "Oh God, please don't remind me." As terribly sexist as Eric was when he was younger, he really changed his views on women ever since Red gave birth to Nikki. They say that raising a child changes you, and in Eric's case, it wouldn't be right to treat his daughter poorly just for being a girl. "So, is Cory interested in you by any chance?" Eric was unsure how he felt about Stan's and Wendy's son dating his own daughter. Eric knew Cory well enough that he could trust him to not hurt his own daughter in any way, but he couldn't say the same should it be vice versa. While Nikki is far more mellow than Eric was when he was his daughter's age, Eric was sure and was unsure of what Nikki is capable of.

"No, but he's interested in some other girl." Nikki immediately grimaced the moment she registered what came out of her own mouth. He slowly looked up at her own father. Could she tell him about Cory? Is it safe?

"Oh, do you know who?" Eric asked. "Just wondering. I won't - I won't tell anyone."

"He likes my friend Kelsey," Nikki replied.

"Oh, so Kenny's daughter. Uh, gotcha. That's cool."

After Nikki finished her cornflakes, she quickly got her light blue backpack and swung it on her. "Alright, I gotta go, now, bye dad." After Nikki and Eric waved goodbye to each other, Nikki walked out the door. She began to head west for about ten minutes until she reached the bus stop, the one that the four main boys would meet at every morning twenty years ago. There she saw Sam, and Kelsey already at the bus stop. When Nikki arrived, the other two waved at her. "Hey guys," Nikki said. "Hey Kelsey." Nikki then turned to Sam. "Hey bitch."

"Hey bitch," Sam waved back.

"Oh great, you two are at it again." Kelsey rolled her eyes at the two others busy calling each other bitches. "I swear to God, it's just like your dads fighting, only this time you both are calling each other bitches rather than 'Jew' or 'Fatass'."

Sam made a small laugh. "Hey, I'm just having fun here, Nikki's the one being a bitch."

"Shut up, bitch," Nikki replied.

In a way, the three kids at the bus stop closely resembled the Stan, Eric, Kyle, and Kenny when they were younger, although the main difference between then and now is that now there's only three children. But in this way, Nikki resembled a more mellow Eric, Sam resembled a more carefree Kyle, and Kelsey seemed to be a mix of Stan and Kenny.

"So where's your younger siblings?" Kelsey asked.

"Oh my brother's going to school with one of his friends," Nikki replied. "Ugh, good thing too. He's pretty annoying. He just copies what everyone in our grade says, thinks it makes him seem cool. I swear, he knows the definition of the word 'fuck' since he was four."

"My little sister isn't like that," Sam said.

"That's nice, Sam." Nikki rolled her eyes at Sam, her voice full of her usual sarcasm. "Riveting story. Tell me more."

"Yeah, ok, bitch." Sometimes, Sam wasn't sure if Nikki really meant her insults at Sam or if she was just joking all along.

There was something dread in Kelsey's mind, however. Something that concerned Cory, and she could not hold it back any longer. "Nikki, listen, uh, there's something really bad that you have to know."

"Wait, are you kicking me out?" Sam asked. "Are you - are you asking me to leave or something?"

"No, Sam you can stay. I know you already know what I'm about to say." Sam was left stunned at Kelsey's comment. He wasn't immediately sure what Kelsey was referring to, so it left him confused. Nevertheless, he stood rooted in place anyways, ready to hear what the beautiful blonde girl had to say. "Listen, Nikki, we have a big problem. Somehow everyone in school knows about Cory's crush on me."

Nikki gasped, horror in her voice. "What? H-how?" She immediately turned to Sam. "Sam, did you tell everyone? Because that was supposed to be a secret between me and Kelsey!"

"What? No! I never told anyone, in fact, some others also...wait a minute..." Sam glared at both girls in disbelief, not believing the last words Nikki had just said. " _Your_ secret? How is this _your_ secret? That was supposed to be between me and Cory! H-how? What? How long did you two know this?"

"We both knew this for months, Sam," Nikki replied. "Cory's not good at keeping things...what's the word...subtle."

"The guy is totally obsessed with me, to the point where it's crazy, creepy, and unhealthy." Kelsey shook her head. "Probably because I'm hot. If I were fat and ugly he'd probably ignore me. Not like I want to be fat and ugly though. Aside from that, if that stupid moron weren't so obsessed with me, none of this would have happened in the first place. Everyone at school is probably gonna think I'm a slut now, and the blood is on his dick!"

"His dick?" Sam blinked twice. _Those were...very interesting choices of words, if I do say so myself._ "Um, ok, ok, back up...um...hold up...you're saying that everything is his fault, right?"

"That's right," Kelsey replied.

"But he can't control who he likes," Sam argued, "and neither can any of us...ok, actually, none of this is necessarily true, hm...look, just promise me you aren't gonna do anything mean to Cory, alright?"

As the words left Sam's mouth, the school bus showed up. It stopped in front of the three kids and the doors opened up to them. As Kelsey was the first to enter the bus, she turned back. Her face was blank, but inside her was nothing but anger and disappointment. "I won't promise anything Sam."

Sam sighed as Nikki then entered the bus. "Nikki?" Nikki didn't reply to Sam and just followed Kelsey inside the bus. With another sigh and not another word, Sam, too, entered the school bus.

* * *

"I gotta go talk to the counselor about something. I'll catch you in class, girl."

As the sentence full of lies left Nikki's mouth, she and Kelsey waved goodbye to each other before Kelsey turned the corner and walked away. Nikki walked the opposite direction, and went around the corner to see Cory throwing his backpack in his locker and slamming the door shut. He let his forehead fall onto the locker door as he groaned with stress and disappointment once again. Feelings of sadness swarmed over Nikki; it felt awful to have to experience what unimaginable horrors Cory must be going through in school right now. She walked up to Cory and rubbed him on his back with her left hand. "It's gonna be ok, Cory."

Cory didn't budge, despite Nikki's touch. "Everyone at school knows. Nikki, did you tell anyone? You better not have told anyone."

"I didn't tell anyone, Cory, I swear." Nikki shook her head. "I bet John did it."

"I think so too." Cory stood straight up so Nikki took her hand off Cory's back. She saw nothing but sadness and despair in his eyes. "I don't know why people want to do this to me. I mean, I do like a girl, so what? It's not like I'm the only boy in this school who's developed crushes." Cory sighed. "Aside from that, what can I do to John? I'm just trapped you know. I can't fight him because I don't think I'll win the fight, but also, I'm gonna get into trouble with the school and the police and - I just can't deal with that, you know."

Nikki chuckled. "Well, trust me, you don't want to fight John anyways. Like there's a reason why no guy ever tries to pick a fight with John."

"Why's that?" Cory asked.

"He's a super dirty fighter. Last time someone got in a fight with him - this was back in 3rd grade by the way - but the last time someone fought him, that guy got an Indian sunburn, a wet willy, a snuggie, some titty twisters, and even...the Texas Chili Bowl." As much as Cory hated John, every word out of Nikki's mouth breathed nothing but horror, the price of what's to pay if Cory were to do something about John. Not to mention getting his secrets publicized as well.

"Why did that guy get in a fight with John?" Cory asked.

"In 3rd grade, they were partnered for a project. They got an F because their project sucked so much. I know this because I was in John's class in 3rd grade. So anyways, they blamed each other for the bad grade, then got into a fight later. Needless to say, John won the fight."

"What should I do, Nikki?"

Nikki sighed and rubbed her forehead in frustration. "Bitch, you have to stand up to him, Cory. But of course, not in a way where you piss him off to get in a fight with him, which is pretty hard to do, you have to do something really stupid to even get to that point, oh my gosh, hahaha." Cory just shook his head at Nikki's sarcastic joking. "But seriously though, you have to stand up to him. Don't back down. Don't be a bitch. Tell him 'no means no' and tell him to respect your authority. Within reason, obviously."

Cory shook his head again and grumbled underneath his breath. It's clear that Nikki still did not fully know what's going on, but he knew that he can't tell Nikki what's really happening and what has really happened. "I can't. I can't stand up to John. Y-You don't know what he's gonna do to me if I do try to stand up against him." Every word out of Cory trembled with fear and emotion.

Nikki would have none of Cory's excuses, however, her own anger not regarding any of Cory's emotions at the moment. On the other hand, she was sick of Cory just easily giving up and surrendering so easily. "Did Sam tell you this? That's why you gotta stop listening to Sam because he doesn't know shit about what's going on."

"Sam and I haven't talked at all yesterday, and you really don't want to know what's going on." As the words left Cory's mouth, the morning 8 AM bell rang.

Nikki looked around, watching every kid walk to their own classrooms. "If there's one thing I do know, it's that your 'friends' never liked you and are just using you. I'm not trying to be mean about this either, but it's the truth, and I can see it easily. Just promise me you'll stay away from them. For your own good, of course." Nikki turned back to Cory, waiting for his reaction.

Cory closed his eyes and sighed. "I won't promise anything." Nikki frowned from Cory's words. Like what Kelsey said to Sam earlier, it stung her. Nevertheless, in the back of her mind, she had a dread feeling that perhaps Cory was right, that perhaps Cory was keeping skeletons in his closet that he did not want Nikki or anyone else to know. A part of her told her she should just stop digging around, but another part of her told her to find the true answer of what Cory is such a weird boy.

* * *

Morning class session with Mr. Garrison was nothing special for any of the children. The kids learned a little about grammar and math and then turned in their eggs to Mr. Garrison before going out to morning recess. Afterward, the class learned a little more about current celebrities. No eggs were broken and every pair received at least a B on their projects. Now it was time to talk about the eggs.

"So what I didn't tell you children," Mr. Garrison had said, "even though other 4th graders might have told you this already, but me and the other 4th grade teachers coordinated with each other on this project. I didn't want to let you guys know until after the fact, but what I mean is that we decided to have Mr. Gibbon's class have same-sex couples with the eggs and we had Mr. Bart's class and my own have straight couples. And as we know, straight couples are more compatible than gay couples, as shown by how everyone's egg from Mr. Gibbon's class was broken."

"But Mr. Garrison, no one in Mr. Gibbon's class broke their eggs," Leslie spoke out. "That's what I saw this morning. Everyone's eggs were fine."

Mr. Garrison pointed an angry finger at Leslie. "You shut your mouth now, Leslie. You can't be going off telling lies about me like that." Just then, the telephone rang. Mr. Garrison picked up the phone. "Oh hello, Gibbons...wait, what? ...that is retarded! ...no, I didn't break your kids' eggs! ...no, I'm not trying to prove that gay marriage is bad for this country, what?" Mr. Garrison slammed the phone down. "Can you believe that? That fucker Mr. Gibbons is accusing me of breaking his students' eggs just to try to show you guys how much gay marriage sucks." All of the children, however, only shot stern glares at Mr. Garrison. "What?"

"That's exactly what you're trying to teach us, Mr. Garrison," a boy from the back said.

"Am not!"

"Am too!" the kids shot back.

Luckily for Mr. Garrison, the lunch bell rang. "Listen, we can sit here and argue about this, or you kids can go off to lunch right now." As the words left Mr. Garrison's mouth, the kids nonchalantly left the classroom. "Jesus Christ, what the fuck is wrong with kids these days?"

Nikki used the bathroom alone this time. Kelsey went off with the rest of their friends and the two of them agreed they would meet up at the cafeteria. When Nikki stormed out of the restroom and what was about to turn the corner towards the cafeteria, she heard the voices of John and Sam arguing. She hid behind the corner, listening to what they had to say.

"Honestly John, I'm getting pretty sick of you using Cory for your own amusement." As far as Nikki knew, Sam sounded like he was not happy at John, presumably for the way John treated Cory. But Sam only confirmed what Nikki already knew, and it was very likely that Nikki arrived far too late into the conversation to the point where she realized that she wasn't going to learn anything new concerning what Cory was hiding.

"I'm using Cory? If anything, he's using me!" John folded his arms as he glared at Sam. "He always trying to seem cool. He's always trying to be cool. He's just using me to get more popular, get more social status. And for what? Trying to seem badass enough to convince Kelsey to date him? She's not gonna like him anyways, he's annoying. He's like that annoying uncle of yours - Kyle Schwartz, the one you hate. Hell, he's like how the girls treat Claire Stotch. Or I might even compare him to Charlie Brown. Except Cory is a fuckin' douche."

"John, I'm not gonna do anything to you, I'm not gonna try to destroy you or anything, but why are you doing this to Cory?" Sam asked.

"Because he's using me! He's using our friends for his own status! Don't you get it?" John paced back and forth furiously. "He doesn't give two shits about us, why should I give a shit about him?"

"Because he doesn't really have any real friends," Sam replied.

John stopped pacing the floor and turned back to face Sam again. "Well if you care about him so much, why don't you hang out with him instead?"

Sam shrugged. "Well...I think he hates me now. Yeah."

John rolled his eyes. "Well there's a shocker. Comeon, let's get some lunch."

Nikki rubbed her chin. John did likely raise a good point about Cory. Cory never stuck to her as an innocent child, but Nikki knew that there was something about Cory's motives that unnerved her. Cory clearly didn't seem 100% innocent, but to Nikki, there is a possibility of Cory being the main instigator of the problem. Problem is is that Cory is still an anomaly to Nikki. There was something about Cory that just felt wrong to her.

* * *

After lunch, the children from Mr. Garrison's class piled in. As they all sat down while still chatting, Mr. Garrison waved both his hands down. "Alright children, alright children, settle down. Now I know today is Mary's birthday." Mary Lawrie is one of the children from Mr. Garrison's class. "But before we go through with that, we are going to write a short essay about what we like to do. The reason why is that I'm going to call some of you up to read your essay. Any questions?"

"So...anything we like or like to do?" a girl asked.

"Yes."

For about twenty minutes, Cory wrote about how he used to like to skateboard all the time. He enjoyed the feeling of freedom and exhilaration everytime he took out his skateboard. Sadly, he hadn't touched his skateboard in months. It is currently left in his bedroom closet collecting dust. After finishing his short essay, Cory sat there in his desk for ten more minutes before Mr. Garrison stood up with a piece of paper. "I have to run to the copier machine to give these documents to Mackey, just stay tight children, and don't do anything retarded. I'll be back soon." After Mr. Garrison left the classroom, the children immediately erupted.

Cory's "friends" sat nearby. About five minutes after Mr. Garrison left the room, John tapped Cory's left shoulder. "Hey Cory, you still don't know what you're gonna write about? Because I got an essay for you to read - it's ready for here."

"I already wrote an essay." Cory folded his arms as he glared at the other boy. He didn't actually glance at John's paper, but he had a feeling that if John was so eagerly willing to let Cory take credit for a paper he did not write, then it meant nothing but bad news. Cory quickly glanced around the room, seeing most of the other children more-or-less minding their own business. Cory was sure most of the other children paid no attention to his interactions with John since they were too busy talking and chatting amongst themselves.

John put his own paper down on Cory's desk and quickly snatched Cory's. He then skimmed Cory's paper. "Actually...this isn't bad at all. It's very nice, actually. But I bet mine is way better than yours. Which is why I want to make you a deal." John's friends were quickly catching attention to what was going on.

"Oh no..." Sam rolled his eyes.

"Take credit for my paper and read it out in front of the class, and if you don't, then...well you know what's gonna happen."

Before Cory could say or do anything else, Mr. Garrison came back without anything in his hands. "Alright, settle down children, settle down." All of the children got back in their seats and sat up straight, waiting to hear what else Mr. Garrison had to say. "I'm sure I gave you enough time, and if you didn't finish, then it doesn't matter really, I'm not grading this paper for completion. I just wanted to see how personable you guys are. Now who would like to go first?"

John quickly chucked a pencil at Cory, hitting the left side of his neck, causing him to let out an "Ow!"

Cory's voice causing Mr. Garrison to shift his gaze onto Cory. "Cory! Mind if you went first?"

"U-U-Umm..." Cory nervously gazed around the room, finding himself to once again be the center of attention, and not in a good way either. He quickly glanced at Kelsey to find that she only shot him a stern expression, which only freaked him out more.

Mr. Garrison tapped his foot with impatience. "Comeon, Cory, hurry up. You did write a paper and not jerk off the entire time, right?" Some of the students snickered at Mr. Garrison's insult.

Without another word, Cory slowly got up from his desk. Standing in the front of the room facing the rest of the entire class, he held the paper up such that the class could barely see his eyes and what is above. "'I love Kelsey McCormick, but most of all, I love her...'" When Cory landed his eyes upon the next word on the paper, his voice trailed off to nothing. "What the..." The rough summary of the paper is about how much the writer loved Kelsey and what the writer would treat her to on a date. That said, when Cory began to skim trough the essay, his voice and hands began to tremble with fear, visibly shaking the paper by a little bit. "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God...no...I-I can't...I can't do this." Cory furiously shook his head. "I won't read this. I can't read this."

"I bet it's about how much you want to fuck Kelsey," Natalie Black said.

The class immediately roared with laughter while Kelsey put her head down on her desk in shame. There was alot of chatter amongst the class concerning Cory and Kelsey, such as, "Eww, gross," "Haha, so unlucky," and similar.

Cory was left stunned. He couldn't react. All of what he saw was just blasting away at his mind. "Alright, shut up kids. Cory, are you gonan speak?" Mr. Garrison asked.

Cory couldn't take this anymore, the fear and anger overwhelming all thoughts he previously had. He immediately tore the paper in half. "No! Screw this! I didn't write the paper! John did!" As Cory blinked away tears, he pointed straight at John.

John made a fake angry face, although he was doing his best to hold mack his laughter. "What? You're such a liar, Cory. Mr. Garrison, Cory is a liar."

"Shut up!" Cory yelled "You told everyone that I liked Kelsey! This is all your fault!"

"What?" John gasped in disbelief. "That's retarded! I didn't tell anyone you liked Kelsey! I don't know how everyone at school found out!"

Claire sunk downwards in her desk, as if she were some cartoon character trying to hide in an exaggerating manner. "Uh oh..." _I think I messed up._

Mr. Garrison took the two halves of the paper out of Cory's hands. He put the pieces together and read the paper silently to himself. After about two minutes, he only showed a blank expression. "Wow, that is pretty hot. That's an A+ right there, Cory."

"I - I just want to get a drink of water," Cory said.

Mr. Garrison shrugged. "Alright. Go on, get outta here."

As Cory stormed out of the classroom to a nearby water fountain in the hallways to get a few sips of water, when he was done, he turned around to see John standing right behind him holding a bathroom pass with an evil grin on his face. "Sup?"

"You asshole!" Cory's face was red with rage. "I hate you! I fuckin' hate you! I know you did this so that you'd ruin any chance of me with Kelsey! Why are you so mean to me?"

"You don't deserve Kelsey, but that's not the point!" John shook his head, and he locked eyes with the angry raven-haired boy. "The point is that I'm sick of you trying to use me and my friends just so that you can get super popular and try to get good social status! I really just want you to stay away from us, and especially stay away from Sam!"

Cory couldn't believe what was coming out of John's mouth. The fact that he was trying to justify his bullying or the fact that he sounded so delusional. "I'm using you? If anything, you're using me! And now you tell everyone about my crush on Kelsey!"

"I did not tell anyone! And there's a reason why no one liked you - ever!" John took a step backwards. "You're stupid, evil, manipulative, creepy-"

Cory could not listen to any more insult being thrown at him. Swirling a bit of saliva and left over tap water in his mouth, he cocked his jaw back a little, and then leaned slightly forward, spitting out a rather large ball of spit, crashing straight into John's left eye. The sheer impact caused John to stagger backwards a little. For two seconds, he rubbed Cory's spit out of his own eye. Fortunately for John, Cory did not attempt to take advantage of John's moment of weakness, so John immediately lurched forward and grabbed Cory's left ear with his right hand and began pulling and yanking at it. "You little shit! You're gonna spit on me? You spat on me! That's it, you're done! You're a dead man!" He then pushed Cory's left side, causing him to fall down to the floor. As he began to walk towards the boy's bathroom, he turned his head back to Cory while walking. "You're gonna regret ever spitting on me, you hear?"

Cory lied down on the ground, grabbing his left ear. His low pain tolerance left him on the floor, stunned. "Ow..." Realizing what he had done what what might happen, the only thing left inside him was nothing but dread and darkness.

* * *

Leslie Donovan walked home with her twin brother John. In her pocket was a white envelope she found taped onto her own locker when school was out. Earlier, when Leslie examined the letter, she found a silver USB flash drive inside the envelope. The back of the envelope read "Use only at your next Pleases and Sparkles meeting." Needless to say, she hid the letter in the her right shirt pocket out of sight from John.

"Leslie, can you believe that idiot?" John whined. "I can't believe he accused me of spreading his secret about his crush on Kelsey."

"Yeah..." Leslie's expression was blank. She didn't know it at the time, but now, she was beginning to have a feeling that she and Claire alone just sparked a chain of events that could possibly spiral out of control. She also remembered that the source of the gossip being spread originated from both Claire and herself, and she was certain that if someone was actively trying to put the pieces together, all of the clues would be traced back to the two of them. "I mean, he is kinda weird."

"Oh, he is more than mean." John rolled his eyes. "That guy is an asshole, a douchebag, a manipulative douchebag, it's just...I don't...I don't know..."

"Do you want me to do anything about it?" Leslie asked.

"No, no, you don't need to do anything," John replied. "He'll get what's coming eventually."

When they reached home, they unlocked the front door and entered the house. Their parents were still at work, so they had the house to themselves. "Tell you what, since I'm going to be at the stupid Pleases and Sparkles meeting today at like 3:30, do you want me to talk about anything with them?"

"No, I don't think you need to, don't see what's there to talk about." John' wording became less sincere.

"Alright." Leslie threw John her backpack. "Take this up to my room, will you? I gotta get going. See you later, before mom and dad get home, of course." As Leslie turned around to walk out of the house, John noticed a part of the envelope sticking out of Leslie's pocket. The ends of his mouth slowly formed an evil grin.

The Pleases and Sparkles "clubhouse" is basically a large room underneath the girl's bathroom in the public park. It consisted of two rows of tables that could seat ten people each, a table that sat two people at the front, and one judge's bench. Leslie took her seat on one of the desks on the left side. Kelsey, being the leader, sat up on the judge's bench while Nikki and Linda sat on the sides of Kelsey on the smaller table. Most of the girls in Mr. Garrison's class were present.

Kelsey slammed a mallet down. "Today's list meeting is called to order. Nikki, you have the floor."

Nikki nodded and read off a paper on her desk. "If it pleases and sparkles I suggest we continue deliberations on List 47D: Which Girl Has The Cutest Purse?"

"Nikki moves we work on List 47D," Kelsey replied, "Does that sparkle with all the girls?"

"Sunshine," the rest of the girls spoke.

Linda cleared her throat to speak. "Deliberating 'Which Girl Has The Cutest Purse'? Susan has the floor."

"If it pleases and sparkles, I would like to submit that Kelly's purse is by far the cutest," Susan said, "Definitely cuter than Cindy's."

"I don't think anyone here disagrees that Kelly's purse is cuter than Cindy's, but it doesn't make it the cutest," Natalie countered.

"The committee has already decided that nothing with stripes can be in the Top 5 cutest purses." As soon as Kelsey finished her thoughts, Leslie immediately raised held the envelope she had in her right hand and raised it to the air.

At that moment, Linda took notice to Leslie. "Sunshine, sparkle, Leslie has the floor."

Leslie nodded. "If it pleases and sparkles, I would like to suggest that we...we get out the laptop and get the projector running because we got a letter. I think it's something important, and I think it's for our eyes."

Kelsey shrugged. "Um, not sure why we'd need a laptop for this, but understood. Nikki, you heard the girl." As Nikki got out the laptop, prepared the projector, and rolled down the screen at the other side of the room, Leslie got up and passed the letter over to Kelsey. Kelsey examined the envelope then took out the flash drive that was in it. "Huh. Are you sure what we're about to see isn't gonna be some stupid prank like a naked homeless guy, right?"

"I'm not sure, honestly, I haven't looked at it," Leslie replied. "All I know that it's just important."

Nikki got the projector up and running, and on the screen showed only blue. Nikki gave the laptop over to Kelsey. Kelsey punched in the flashdrive to a USB port, which opened up a folder containing only a PowerPoint file that was named "STUFF." The projector screen then changed to match the laptop screen. Kelsey double-clicked the PowerPoint to show a presentation of the horrors to come.

* * *

Cory sat down at the dinner table with both of his parents. He could barely touch his food. There was alot on his mind, and his body was tired from all the stress he had to endure today. He hated the drama, and he wished he could wish it all away.

"So yeah, my dad got yelled at by the other company's boss because my dad wanted to sue them," Stan said. "Glad my dad called it off and gave up. It was only gonna end up in a disaster otherwise."

"I'm still amazed how well you and the rest of your family can put up with your dad's crap," Wendy replied. "You know, I might drop by your workplace one day, you know, visit you, Bebe, and Kenny."

"Well, so it's not just three of us, but also there's other people, who were in our grade, who went to our elementary, middle, and high school, working in our company." Stan shrugged. "It's pretty weird."

"Are any of them in our social circle?" Wendy asked.

"No," Stan replied. "But we're all pretty good friends now, even though sometimes dumb stuff happens in our office, and we tend to slack off alot."

Wendy's eyes drifted over to Cory. She immediately frowned, seeing Cory's sadness and his reluctance to eat. "Is everything alright, Cory? You've barely touched your spaghetti."

"I'm fine." Cory's tone was soft enough that his parents could barely hear him. Wendy and Stan decided to to nag anymore, perhaps he needed his space.

When it was finally bedtime, and after Cory went to sleep, Stan and Wendy lied down on their bed. "I'm worried, Stan. Cory's not telling us anything."

"Maybe it's something he doesn't want us to know," Stan replied. "Maybe it's drama at school. I mean, you know how you're dealing with social drama and you don't want to tell your parents, right?" Stan shook his head. "I don't know. I don't know why he doesn't trust us."

"Maybe he's afraid we're gonna yell at him." Wendy then let out a long-drawn sigh. "I certainly hope he's alright."

* * *

 **I know I haven't really included the adults much at all in this fic and I'm hoping I can get them more involved in either this plot, or maybe just a very brief slice-of-life passage or so about them. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter. Until next time.**


	6. Chapter 6: Heart Attack

**Hello guys. Sorry this took so long. Between having this computer replaced, finals, and the difficulty of this chapter in general, this took me quite a bit of time to write. But no worries, because here it is. I also changed the title of chapter 5.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

They say Friday is either the best day of the worst day of the school week, depending on the person and their perspective. One reason is that it's the start of the weekend, where kids could finally take a good two days off of school to do whatever needs to be done that can't be done at school. On the other hand, there's a reassurance that the start of another school week is only three days away, and if there was one thing kids did not like about school, most would certainly choose the amount of work and homework they would have to do each week.

For Cory, he just hated school. Period. He didn't like the coursework or the learning. He hated Mr. Garrison (but to be fair, most of the class shared the same sentiment). But most of all, he didn't like most of the kids in his grade. He never got along well with most, which led to his eventual isolation.

Upon exiting the school bus, he casually walked towards the front doors. Right before he could open them, he turned back around to see no crowd of students to try to trample him. He sighed with relief, he was getting tired of getting pushed and trampled by students everyday, who were overly excited to enter the hellhole that was school. Cory still doesn't understand these people to this day, who could be so optimistic and cheerful of such a dreadful place that is school, according to himself. But it was whatever to him, at least he would have a fine day today, right?

Wrong. As soon as Cory entered the building into the main room, the 4th graders who were standing around fell silent to turn their gazes upon Cory. Cory, taking note of their attention towards him, immediately froze, his heart fluctuating between the imbalance of very quick beats and complete stops. The stunning, yet hateful glares of the students setting their eyes upon Cory left Cory himself stunned as well. If anything, it encouraged Cory to slip by the masses faster. But Cory didn't understand why everyone appeared so hostile to him. He wasn't sure what he possibly did wrong recently to deserve this kind of treatment.

Rushing through crowds of students in the hallways giving him death stares, Cory did his best to avoid eye contact with anyone, but his curiosity only made him see and take in his surroundings, and that only freaked him out more. His breathing and heartbeats increased in speed with direct proportion to his walking speed. When he reached his locker, and when he threw his backpack in and slammed the locker door shut, he turned around to see two people he did not wish to see angry, yet he did not know why everyone was angry at him. Yet. And that made his breathing and heart stop.

"Cory! You're a piece of shit!" Nikki screamed as loudly as she could. Kelsey stood by quietly, her arms folded, but she was no less angry.

Cory was completely caught off guard from the two angry girls. Why were they so angry? Why was Kelsey so angry? It made Cory stutter and shiver nervously. "W-what the? W-w-what did I d-do?" The nervous lump that formed in his throat made him struggle to say anything.

"Oh my God, I never realized how much of a complete asshole you are! No wonder why you couldn't tell me what you did, Cory you are...you just...do you not have any consciousness at all?! No social awareness?! No morals even?!" Nikki paced back and forth, her eyes glued to the ground in frustration. "You are so obsessed with being popular and trying to date Kelsey that you did...all...did all that?!"

"Yeah, fuck you, Cory!" Kelsey added. Students began to gather around to watch the scene unfold. Both girls paid no mind to the observers, they were so angry at Cory to even notice. "You're way too obsessed with me, holy shit!"

Both girls' words stung Cory deeply in the heart like a knife. Not only did they find out about what Cory had done, but it's very likely that everyone else knows as well now. He was only sure that nothing good would loom over the horizon for him. "Nikki, Kelsey, I'm sorry, I just-"

"'Oh I'm sorry! I'm sorry I'm such a huge, insecure asshole to everyone!' Now I know why everyone hates you! Now I know why you're so frickin' weird! You're even weirder than Charlie Brown, and that's saying something! Because you are nothing but a monster, deep down inside! You are nothing but a manipulative, scheming asshole! You are nothing!" Nikki kept pacing the floor, constantly running her fingers through her hair in frustration while doing so.

"You think you're cool, Cory?" Kelsey added. "You think you're funny? You're gonna be in big trouble! You did this to yourself, and the blood will be on your dick, so don't even try to blame anyone else for it!"

"H-how d-d-did you f-find out?" Cory struggled to roll out each syllable from his tongue, his mind and body shaking from his inner nervousness and shyness, and the girls' insults certainly did him no justice. He put both his hands over his heart t as if trying to shield himself from others. It was his comfort position whenever he became stressed out from a social situation.

"We all saw the pictures!" Nikki replied.

Suddenly, Cory put the pieces together once again, fully realizing what had happen. However, knowing Cory's "friends", they were likely smart enough to cover their tracks, so it wouldn't matter if Cory attempted to rat them out anyways, no one would ever believe him due to Cory's past history with quite alot of the students in his grade. "John...John did that! Wait-"

"No, you did all that shit in the photos, no one else did!" Every second of Kelsey's angry glare and every word Kelsey spoke only chipped away at Cory's heart more and more. Needless to say, the hurtful words from his longtime crush burned him alot. His lungs felt choked out and crushed, and his stomach felt as if it had been punched really hard.

"You didn't have to do any of that, you could have just walked away from it all!" Nikki, wording her next few words very carefully, struggled to keep her promise to Cory of not telling anyone anything about John. Which meant that even Kelsey had no idea what truly went on behind the scenes between him and Cory. She hesitated for a moment and breathed out a harsh snort before looking up to the raven-haired boy again, glaring daggers into his blue eyes. "You - you could have just walked away."

Kelsey opened her mouth to add to the conversation, but at this point she realized that she would just end up beating a dead horse. There was nothing else for her to do, the damage was done, and ultimately, Cory, and he alone, would pay the ultimate price of it all. She took one last look at Cory, his face full of fear running chills down her own spine. Still in disbelief in what Cory had done, she swore that these events were some nightmare, that this had to be a work of some awful fanfiction or similar. "Let's just go, Nikki."

Nikki couldn't bear to look at Cory any longer. She turned to Kelsey and nodded. Without saying another word, the two girls walked away, leaving Cory alone to slam his head on his own locker and sob and weep.

Sam watched the entire argumentative exchange between Nikki and Kelsey versus Cory. He watched as the two beautiful girls tore open Cory's heart and soul. But he couldn't blame them for being angry, but at the same time, he couldn't blame Cory for doing what he did. It frustrated him that there was nothing he could do, that events would just turn out how they did. He also learned very quickly that John was behind it all. He knew there wasn't much he could do to calm down Cory - after all, he was certain Cory still hated him, and perhaps rightfully so after everything Sam and his friends had done to him. Each sob Cory let out continually reminded Sam of all he had done against him. The worst part of it all was how Sam's own parents would react when they would eventually find out he and his friends had been bullying the child of his parents' own friends, the ultimate irony of it all.

"Gee whiz, what Cory had done...if I ended up doing what he did and my parents end up finding out, I'd be grounded to heck for all eternity."

Claire's snide comment only left a feeling of irritation within Sam. Turning 180 degrees to the source of Claire's voice to find Claire was standing directly behind him, Sam made very sure his face did not convey any sign of pleasure in hearing the Stotch girl's statement. "You picked now to act like a brat? Don't you have class to go to? You don't want to ruin your perfect good girl image, stupid cunt." Sam clamped his mouth shut immediately. He had just insulted Claire for no good reason, simply because he felt the frustration of Cory and he mistook Claire's comment as her directly insulting Cory.

Claire bit her tongue to avoid lashing out at Sam. She particularly didn't like how Sam insulted her just now, but she kept her poise for now. "Well geez, no need to act like a meanie..." Claire shook her head, turned around, and walked the other way, leaving Sam to himself.

Sam, knowing he had just made another person feel bad, leaned against someone's locker. "Oh Goddamnit."

* * *

When Cory arrived inside the classroom, he noticed that the chatter had suddenly turned into dead silence upon his arrival. Thirty-nine pairs of eyes from the other students shot glares of daggers onto Cory. For about the fifth time this week, Cory's heart shriveled and shattered. He never enjoyed the negative attention his other peers gave him - but then again, who does?

"H-h-hi." Cory struggled to speak through the saliva that blocked his airway. His cough made it clear to the rest of the class that he is nervous about the situation now and the situation of what's to come. The rest of the class stared at him, saying nothing and making no noise, so Cory quickly took his seat just as Mr. Garrison entered the room.

"Ok class, today we are learning about..."

But Cory found it difficult to pay attention to any of Mr. Garrison's lectures. Between the unjustified hostility everyone seemed to hold for him today, the possibility that all of his secrets might be made public, Mr. Garrison being full of nonsense, as per usual, and generally not being a morning person, Cory soon fell to slumber once again.

Like most children, sometimes Cory would have a nightmare, such as being taken away from his parents, or getting bet up at school, or ones that involve him dying (such as drowning, getting shot, etc.). He also has good dreams where he wins an award of some sort, or he is generally having a great time hanging out with friends (who appear to him as distortions of kids he knew in his previous classes in previous years).

But then the recess bell woke him up. _Oh crap!_ Cory frantically scanned the room in panic from the surprise of the bell, watching the rest of the students get up and leave. Cory quickly got up from his desk and followed the rest of the children out. He walked outside to scan the other children outside at the playground. Some of the second graders pushed and shoved each other. A few children played the game "Four Square" with a red rubber ball, involving a giant square marked on the blacktop divided into four equal sections. Quite a few fifth graders were playing tag. And the entirety of Mr. Gibbon's fourth grade class was playing dodgeball. But Cory couldn't bear to look at anyone today, much less be looked at. So he sat down at a tree - the tree where his parents began their reconciliation of their relationship as they figured out the problem with a certain girls' list - as he watched his former friends sitting bored on the merry-go-round.

Sam and his friends couldn't play football today because yesterday, Mr. Garrison, out of rage, took out a lighter, set the classroom football on fire, and kicked it over the playground fence. Luckily, the fire was quickly extinguished because it landed in snow. Mr. Garrison did this because the boys wouldn't stop talking about sports during class, much to Mr. Garrison's annoyance, so that prompted Mr. Garrison to do what he did, all while shouting at the top of his lungs "I fucking hate jocks!"

"Dude, I still can't believe Mr. Garrison set our football on fire and kicked it over the fence yesterday," James Milton, a classmate, complained.

"Yeah, who the hell does he think he is?" Fred Cotswolds added.

"It could be worse," Will Malkinson said, "we could be in detention again."

"Ok, really?" Ricky Oswald stated in a snarky tone. "I think I'd rather take the detention and still have the football."

"Well still," Calvin Frederickson said, "but still, he thinks he's all high and mighty just because he's the Goddamn teacher, and everyone has to listen to him. Well I'm sick of it."

"He's not God, that's for sure," Steven Emery joked.

"We know that," Kurt Eastwood added, "but what he did is still a dick move. Whatever. I'm not surprised. School sucks anyways."

"At least that part is true," John concluded.

Sam didn't pay any mind to the complaints of his friends. His vision and hearing shifted towards the other nearby fourth graders. He couldn't make out complete sentences from the other children, but from the bits and pieces that he heard, he could tell that the other children were talking about what Cory had done when Sam and his friends made him do dares throughout the school year. Sam slapped his forehead with his right hand and groaned, realizing that because of him, Cory was going to be in huge amounts of trouble, and it was going to be mostly Sam's fault, even though Cory agreed to do such activities.

John's eyes caught attention to Sam slapping himself. He was sure that something was on Sam's mind. "What's up, Sam?"

Sam shook his head. "Nothing." His soft-spoken voice showed nothing but regret and concern.

But John wouldn't be fooled by Sam's lie. He too listened in closely to what nearby children said about Cory. "I know what you're thinking, Sam. But it's fine. He's not gonna bug us anymore. At least that douchebag got what's coming to him."

Sam let out a slight disapproving cough, but John made no response. He hated the feeling that he (partially) caused all these problems, but there was nothing he could do. He felt as if his back were against the wall, with no way out.

Watching the boys from nearby the jungle gym stood Claire and Leslie, alone this time. While neither of the girls were very fond of any of the boys in general, they knew that what they have caused within the last few days would soon lead down a certain chain of events that would spiral out of control. "You know Claire...do you ever get the feeling like you've done something you shouldn't have? Like you end up doing something that could potentially change the outcome of several people's lives as opposed to not doing something at all?"

Claire let out a lighthearted chuckle as she rolled her eyes in disapproval of Leslie's comment. "Oh Leslie, don't be silly, I don't think that's even possible outside of those stupid TV shows. I don't think life works like that."

"I know, but I don't know." Leslie sighed and shook her head. She then backed up a few steps to sit down on a wooden bench. "All I'm saying is that maybe we shouldn't have done what we did, you know. Maybe-"

"Leslie, you were there at the girls' meeting yesterday, right? Didn't you see what Cory did? Because I know you know what you're talking about." Claire shuddered, she could never manage to take the images off her own mind. "What I witnessed is nothing but pure evil, and if I did that, my parents would be so upset with me, they'd be all like, 'Ey! Claire! You're a bad girl for doing that, and you shouldn't not have done what you did, so you'll be grounded for a month!'"

Leslie nodded in defeat. "Yeah. You're right. What he did was horrible."

* * *

Back in class, Mr. Garrison proceeded to drone on and on about how Hillary Clinton is "a dumb liberal bitch". And, like usual, the class was either not listening nor paying attention to Mr. Garrison's offensive rants or listening in complete disgust how a 4th grade teacher is allowed to have such disregard for other human beings who don't agree with his political points of view. However, the phone rang, and Mr. Garrison stopped his rants to pick up the phone.

"Herbert Garrison here." Mr. Garrison listened intently into the phone for a few seconds before his face became contorted with disgust. "Oh..." With each passing second, Mr. Garrison showed even more disapproval in his facial expression. "...oh...well, I'll send him to you right away." A few more seconds passed by. "Yes, I'll make sure of it. And, of course, I'll remember to buy us the coffee tomorrow morning." A few more seconds passed by still. "Yes. Of course. Goodbye." After Mr. Garrison put down the phone, he faced his gaze upon Cory. "Cory, yes, Principal Victoria wants to see you. Immediately. Take your stuff and go over to her office."

"Ooooohhhh!" The entire class cooed. "Cory's in trouble!"

Cory's heart dropped, gulping, and getting saliva stuck in his throat a little. Whispers spread across the classroom and at this moment, Cory knew that everything he had done would come back to haunt him very quickly. Walking out of the classroom, he waded over to his locker. Between his quickened heartbeats and him shaking nervously of what's to come, he struggled in getting the lock open - he had to do the combination several times just because. After it took him two whole minutes to manage to get his locker door open, he hoisted his backpack up and slammed his locker shut. He walked by more students, who gave him similar angry stares as he had received earlier in the morning.

By the time Cory reached the door to Principal Victoria's office, it took him ten entire minutes, and it was 11:27 AM. The moment he opened the door to see what he would lay his eyes upon, his heartbeat quickened due to panic. Principal Victoria was not alone - and that was bad for Cory. There were three seats in front of Principal Victoria's desk. The one to Cory's left was occupied by his mother Wendy. The one to the right occupied by Stan, his father. The one in the middle was empty, presumably for Cory to sit down. Both of the parents wore angry scowls on their faces, and as much as Cory did admire his parents, he deeply feared both of them when they were angry (which thankfully happens only on rare occasions).

"Well, look who's here, finally. Took you quite a while, didn't it?" Principal Victoria's sarcastic tone didn't do Cory any justice. "You know kids, always procrastinating and stuff." Neither Stan nor Wendy made any response. "Okay, Cory. Close the door and have a seat. Let's get started."

Cory did exactly what Principal Victoria told him to do. Out of the corners of his eyes he could see both his parents folding their arms glaring angrily at him. He could only hope the retribution would be swift.

Principal Victoria cleared her throat. "Stan. Wendy. I'm sure you're both familiar with the dumb crap that can go on between kids and their minds, right?" Both parents made a silent nod. "Now there are rumors going through this school, with photo evidence, of Cory doing...misdeeds. However, most of them are nothing special I assure you. It's just harmless pranks and fun and crap like that. But a few caught my eye and to be honest...I was a bit taken aback - about - at what I saw...appalled...would be the correct term. And therefore, I will hold those specific photos against him. Now Cory, when I show you those specific photos, I want you to be honest and tell me what you exactly did. Or what exactly happened, if you will."

Between embarrassment, guilt, and the dread feeling that his parents would certainly end him the moment he got home, Cory's veins and heart almost burst from the extreme panic, and he found it very hard to breathe. _Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God._

Principal Victoria placed down the first photo face-up, revealing him pouring bubble-blowing soap into the various band instruments that the kids in the school band would use. Cory gulped as his parents both gazed intently upon the photo. "That - t-t-that is just me doing that d-during the n-night of that football game against the other elementary school in this town."

"That would explain why a bunch of bubbles came out of the kids' instruments," Stan scoffed.

"I thought it was a pretty impressive sight to be honest." Principal Victoria let out a slight chuckle. "Jokes aside, let's move on." Principal Victoria placed another photo, this one showing Cory replacing birthday candles with Chinese firecrackers and shoving them into a birthday cake made of chocolate. The words written on the top of the cake was unclear in the photo.

Cory gulped once more. "I-I replaced the birthday candles with f-f-firecrackers on Chef's birthday cake. Y-you know Chef's birthday?"

Stan immediately pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ugh, seriously? You pissed off Chef too?" Stan was sure that as of today, there would be no way Chef would take any liking in him or Wendy.

But before anymore words could be exchanged, Principal Victoria placed down another photo. "Okay, next one. And Wendy, you might wanna try to stay calm for this one." The photo showed Cory distributing Playboy magazines to other male students, their faces not exposed to the camera.

 _Oh God, my mom's gonna kill me now!_ "Uh..." But the words lost Cory. The nervous lump in his throat and the chaos of the situation did not allow Cory to make any real response.

"Is that...is that Playboy?" Wendy took a closer look at the photo. She could not believe her eyes, she could not believe it was her own son distributing all of those magazines. And after everything she had taught him. "Where the hell did you get those magazines, Cory?!"

"S-s-sixth graders." What Cory said was completely true. He got most of the magazines from the six graders. Granted, he didn't use his own money to pay for the magazines, but he was the main distributor. A middleman, if one would.

"Uh, let's move on. Quickly." Principal Victoria showed the fourth photo of Cory firing a BB-gun at some of the cheerleaders during an outdoor rally down at the football field, hiding underneath the shadows of the bleachers. The BB-gun took the form of a Glock-17 pistol, with the tip of the barrel colored orange.

Wendy was practically losing it at this point. "You were shooting pellets at the cheerleaders? Why? Why?"

"I-I-I don't know!" Cory panicked. He tried his hardest to hold back tears.

"Ok, last one, and I wouldn't really call this a subtle prank either." Principal Victoria threw down the fifth and final photo. It showed the events of Monday afternoon, showing Cory's arms out and Kelsey in the process of falling to the ground. "Actually, this is fucked up."

"I'll say, I never taught my son to beat up on girls!" Wendy replied.

Stan took a closer look at the photo. When he realized who the girl was in the photo, he gasped in horror. "Wait...isn't that Kenny and Kelly's kid? What's her name..."

"Kelsey," Wendy replied. "Pretty and smart girl. Cory, why would you push her down like that?!"

An unnerving silence filled the room. Cory could not nor would he give a good answer for what he had done. He knew his parents would never approve of him pushing around other kids, especially other girls. Of course, he could not answer for all of the other crimes and sins that he had committed, as clearly shown in the photos, either. A rock had formed at the bottom of his gut.

Principal Victoria shook her head in frustration and confusion. "I don't get it. Wendy. Stan. Your son. He's a good kid. Well, he gets okay grades, certainly above passable, but he has a very good behavioral record, nearly perfect. I think only been sent to see me once or twice in his entire time at this school maybe, doesn't get in trouble with any teacher very often either, so that's good in my books. But I don't understand what to make of this, I don't know what to make of this...to realize that a kid like him is behind all of these...horrors." Stan and Wendy tried to say something, but Principal Victoria waved her right hand, implying them to silence themselves. She glared down upon Cory. "Listen, Cory, if there is anyone else involved, any hazing that I should know of..." Principal Victoria opened up a drawer. She placed a sheet of college-ruled binder paper and a pen on the desk in front of Cory. "...you are to write it down here. That said, if it does turn out that no one else is actually involved, and you're actually lying, your punishment will be more severe, I will promise you that."

Cory knew that putting the names of his adversaries (once his friends) meant that figuratively he'd be signing a contract, an agreement of truth. He knew that it would most certainly be a huge gamble, a giant risk. On the other hand, he truly held nothing but hate for his former "friends", his heart boiling with a mixture of anger, sadness, fear, and jealousy. Making a huge gulp and biting his lower lip, and making a harsh inhale, with feeling, he began to write down the list of names he deemed appropriate onto the piece of paper for Principal Victoria to judge.

* * *

Cory was not present in the classroom after lunch recess. When the rest of the children did return, Mr. Garrison turned his eyes to certain students in the classroom as he began to make his statement. "Ok, John, Sam, Ricky, Fred, Will, Kurt, James, Calvin, Steven. The Principal would like to see all nine of you. Right now." Whispers and murmurs erupted between the other students.

 _Oh crap!_ Sam was the last of the students called out to exit the classroom. His friends and he were all told to wait outside Principal Victoria's office. He could hear her yelling at someone, but the door muffled the noise, so Sam couldn't tell what Principal Victoria was yelling about. Despite what he had went over with his friends, he still wasn't ready. Even though he knew he'll have to confront Principal Victoria because it was likely that Cory would try to snitch his friends out, Sam wasn't sure if he could lie to Principal Victoria.

"Alright, everyone got the full story?" John asked. "We went over this multiple times."

"Yeah, we're all good," Ricky replied. "Just make sure Sam doesn't Jew us out on this, since he was butt buddies with Cory."

A flash of anger arose in Sam. "I am not! Besides, he said he hates me!" Despite the truth of the matter, he still felt bad for all he had done to Cory, and what he could have done to help the situation. But alas, it was far too late now.

"Guys, chill, we got this," Fred replied.

Before anyone could say anything else, the office door opened, and out stormed two third grade boys, with bruises all over their faces, obviously showing that the two had gotten into a fight at some point during lunch recess. Principal Victoria darted her head out the doorway. She looked right to find Sam and all of his friends sitting within her eyesight. "Ah, good, there you boys are..." Principal Victoria then began to point at each boy one-by-one. "...one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. Okay, good, all nine of you are here. Samuel Broflovski, you're first. Come on in."

 _Of course I'm first._ Sam marched into the office without looking back at his friends. There were two empty chairs, a leftover from the other two third graders who were here previously. "Am I in trouble, ma'am?"

Principal Victoria did not directly respond to Sam's question, she had something else in mind. "Samuel, I just want to ask you a few questions, and I want you to answer them honestly, is that alright with you?" Sam nodded silently, and so did Principal Victoria. She cleared her throat and began to proceed with the interview. "Okay, first off, how are you today, Samuel?"

"Never been better." Those words came out forcefully and insincerely from Sam's throat, but that was likely what his friends wanted him to say.

"Very good. I'm glad you're doing well." Principal Victoria seemingly gave a nod of approval. "How long have you known Cory Marsh?"

"Quite a long time, actually," Sam replied. "You know our parents - they were great friends with each other. But I'm sure you know this."

"The four of them are something." Principal Victoria let out a soft chuckle as memories of Stan, Wendy, Kyle, and Bebe back in elementary school flew through her mind. "The faculty always referred to those four as the 'Clubhouse special'." Principal Victoria began writing down everyone Sam said in her notepad.

"Why's that?" Sam asked.

"Well, the other kids in school would talk about how your parents first met in a Clubhouse." Principal Victoria remembered the other school children teasing Kyle a bit when Bebe kissed him for the first time.

"Oh yeah, yeah, that's true," Sam nodded.

"Okay, now I want to show you these photos." Principal Victoria showed Sam the five photos she showed the Marshes earlier today. "Take a good look at them. Do these look familiar to you?"

Sam scanned each photo for about a minute. The photos only reminded him of how he and his friends had wronged Cory, and how they used him for their own amusement. Sam felt nauseous, he wanted to vomit simply because of the weight of the guilt he felt for Cory, but he could not let his other friends down. "Yes."

"Where did you see them?" Principal Victoria asked.

"I was texted the photos, from lots of different classmates," Sam replied.

"Have you forwarded them to anyone?" Principal Victoria asked.

"Yes. A few people. Some of the students in Mr. Gibbons' class."

"Okay." Principal Victoria nodded again. She stared deeply at Sam, trying to detect any sense of insincerity. But so far, she had found nothing Sam had said that deemed suspicious to her. "How do your other friends treat Cory?"

"I'm really the only person who talks to Cory," Sam replied. "No one else really interacts with him."

"But he follows you guys around," Principal Victoria countered.

"Yes, but he's only around because of me - because you know, our parents. Everyone else does their best to ignore him." Sam gulped. He knew at this point he was telling lies to the Principal.

Principal Victoria nodded. "Alright. That's all I have. Just know that if I do end up finding out that you've been lying to me, your punishment will be the most severe. Do you understand, Samuel?"

"Yes, ma'am," Sam replied.

Principal Victoria closed her notepad and put down her pen. "Okay. You are dismissed. And send in John Donovan."

Sam got up and left the office, breathing a sigh of relief. The rest of his friends turned their eyes upon him with curiosity. "So how'd it go?" John asked.

"Fantastic. You're next, by the way, John," Sam replied.

* * *

It was dinner time. The Marshes had white rice, spinach, and chicken breast. The dining room was somewhat darker than last evening. Each of the residents touched some of their food, but they were mostly preoccupied in each other.

"So all those names you wrote down on that piece of paper, those were all just lies?!" Stan was just about as angry at Cory as Wendy was. "You should be glad you're only getting off with five days of detention for this somehow! But you're still grounded!"

"What would possess you to do all of those things?!" Wendy was almost completely consumed in her anger. "Why? Why? What is wrong with you?!"

"I-I j-j-just..." Cory couldn't respond as he put a tremendous amount of effort to hold back tears. Not to mention, both Stan and Wendy could be vicious when angry, so Cory found it better to keep his mouth shut and not risk saying the wrong words and end up pissing off his parents even more.

But then the house phone rang. Stan got up to the kitchen to pick up the phone. "Hello? Oh shit...hey Kenny." Stan then came back to the dining room and turned it on speakerphone for the entire family to here.

"Hey, yeah, Stan, is Wendy and your son there?" Kenny's voice was slightly distorted by static, but the Marshes could clearly make out what he was saying.

"Yes, we're here," Wendy replied.

"Listen, that bastard son of yours - you know what he did to my daughter, right?!" It was clear on the phone that Kenny wasn't exactly thrilled when he learned that his daughter Kelsey was pushed down by Cory earlier this week. "I just can't believe he did that! Stan, Wendy, what were going on through your minds when you raised him?"

"What?" Stan's jaw fell downwards in shock. "We didn't - we didn't teach him to do that! How are we supposed to know what went on through our kid?"

Wendy let out a long-drawn sigh. "Kenny, you know we don't have complete control over what our kid does, and neither do you have complete control over your own."

"Yeah, alright Wendy. Hey Cory! That's your kid's name, right?" Cory sat straight up, ready to listen. "I'm just gonna keep this simple: you go near my daughter again and your dead, you hear me?!"

"O-o-okay." But before Cory could complete his response, Kenny hung up the phone. Therefore, he was only met with the glares of his two parents.

"Great, first Chef hates us, then now Kenny, why did you have to go and do all of that?!" Stan pinched the bridge of his nose with his right hand and let his right elbow fall onto the table so that his head was leaning out of his arm, letting out a sigh in frustration.

"You see," Wendy added. "The problem here is that all of the terrible things you've done affects all of us! Maybe soon you'll realize...you know what? I - I can't even look at you right now, just go to your room, and don't come out for the rest of the evening!" Wendy pointed upstairs.

Cory said nothing more as he got up from his seat and slowly trudged upstairs into his own bedroom and shut the door. He changed into his pajamas and then slipped underneath the covers of his blanket. He held his pillow up to his chest as if holding a stuffed animal and began sobbing into it. He knew he had messed up greatly, and the next time he'd go to church for confession, he'd have a lot of sins to confess. Ultimately, however, this wasn't the end of it all, but only the beginning.

* * *

 **Anyways, here it is. Hopefully I'll update the next chapter soon. Until next time.**


	7. Chapter 7: Number One Girl

**At this point in my life, if I'm going too slowly on my updates, blame my friends and video games. Anyways, enjoy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

Sam stirred almost wide awake in his bed at 5:27 AM. His physical body denied him from going back to sleep, his circadian rhythms out of whack for reasons unknown to him. Therefore, he lied in his bed staring periodically between the ceiling and the sun that slowly rose above the horizon. He wished he could pass the time faster, he hated just lying there in his bed doing nothing. At least he couldn't hear anyone else awake, doing anything that might startle Sam himself, so for that he was grateful.

Images of the events of last week repeatedly flowed through Sam's mind. Him and Nikki exchanging insults, like usual, although mostly for fun. But then there was all of the things Cory had done and all that he had to suffer through. And then there was Claire, who didn't talk to him much until recently, and he was fairly sure Claire was not very fond of him. Then again, he did call her a cunt.

Eventually, by 6:18 AM, Sam had enough of lying in his bed, so he got up out of bed, got dressed for school, packed up his backpack with whatever books and utensils he needed, and went off downstairs. He heard the kitchen sink running and when he peered his head through the kitchen doorway, he saw his father Kyle turn off the sink and turn towards him. "You're up early."

"Couldn't sleep." At least that part was true. Sam turned his head to the left a little to see his mother Bebe sipping a cup of coffee and his sister Kailey eating Cheerios with milk. Sam tried Tweak's coffee once and he felt something was truly wrong about the coffee, but he could not put his tongue on it, even though many other adults and kids loved Tweak's coffee. The sight sent chills down his spine. "What's breakfast?"

"Well, you father and I both have to leave for work early today, so it's just going to have to be cereal for you." Sam groaned when he heard Bebe's words. "Sam, honey, don't be like that. We can't always cook all the time."

"I know, but the cereal we have is so bland, I can only eat regular Cheerios so many times before I just get sick and tired of it." No one responded to Sam's complaints. Sam got the Cheerios from the pantry and poured some into a ceramic bowl. Then he got out a carton of milk and poured it on top of the cereal. He then got a spoon and took the bowl of cereal to the table.

He ate the cereal quickly and silently, finding each bland bite repulsive in his mouth. At long last, when he was done, he could feel the sour aftertaste he always hated as he placed his empty bowl and spoon inside the sink to be washed later. He turned around to see his auburn-haired sister hopping in place in front of the front door, her backpack already on her. "Come on Sammy, we don't want to be late!"

"Yeah, I'm coming." Sam's voice showed less cheerfulness and more tiredness than his sister's. Hosting his green backpack onto his shoulders and straightening his green ushanka, Sam backpedaled towards the front door as he waved goodbye to his parents. "Bye mom! Bye dad!"

"Bye!" Kyle and Bebe both exclaimed.

Sam and Kailey both exited the house. Despite the sky being completely clear and the morning sun shining brightly upon the town, it was a rather cold Monday, with the air temperature being about 39 degrees Fahrenheit. For the first minute, neither Broflovski kid made a sound nor peep. Then as the two kids neared the bus stop, Kailey tapped Sam's right arm. "Hey Sammy, look what I can do with my tongue!"

"What?" Sam asked. Kailey curled her mouth and lips to make it seem like she was sucking on a lolipop. She then stuck her tongue through so that the side edges of her tongue curled in on itself like a cylinder. Sam then rolled his eyes. "I can do that too." Sam then did the exact same actions that Kailey did with her mouth and tongue.

"So when are you two bitches gonna kiss?!" Sam and Kailey returned their faces to normal as they turned their heads towards the bus stop, the source of the noise being Nikki, her brother Martin, and Kelsey. Sam immediately knew that it was Nikki who said that. He and Kailey walked to Nikki.

"Oh screw off Nikki, you always do this all the time, and don't swear near my sister!" Everyday, Nikki and Sam have a little verbal argument, although most of the time, it is light in mood. Both parties knew they were only having fun.

"Having a little tongue-to-tongue session with your own sister, Sam?" Kelsey covered her mouth with her left hand as she began to giggle. It took three seconds for Nikki to fully realize what Kelsey meant before she too started to giggle.

"What?" Kailey and Martin looked at each other, both unsure of what Kelsey meant by her comment. It was rather fortunate that, given that the two are only six years old, that they do not fully understand Kelsey's meaning behind her words. They were simply too innocent.

Sam rolled his eyes and groaned, disgusted by Kelsey's perversion. "Are you kidding me, Kelsey. That's - that would be...you know what, nevermind." Sam raised his hands and stretched out his palms before letting his arms down. "So...what should we talk about today - before the bus driver comes?"

Nikki shrugged. "I don't know. Do you have any ideas Kelsey? Something that isn't about sex?" If there was one thing Nikki couldn't stand about Kelsey, it was her perversion. Despite that, Nikki would always stand by Kelsey's side no matter what.

"What? Really, Nikki? I don't always talk about sex!" Kelsey grunted in mock frustration - obviously however, Nikki was completely right in that regard. Although it's not surprising to Sam or Nikki, really, considering that both know who Kelsey's father is.

Kailey tugged Sam's left arm again as she looked up innocently into Sam's green eyes. "Sammy, what's Kelsey talking about?"

Sam sternly glared at his sister and shook his head. "Nothing. It's nothing you need to know."

Of course though, Nikki's brother Martin opened his mouth to begin to say his piece. "Kelsey's talking about-"

Sam and Nikki both glared at Martim. "Shut it." Suddenly realizing that both Sam and Nikki said the exact same words at the exact same time, Sam shot his green eyes at Nikki's brown eyes as Nikki glared back.

"Jinx! Double jinx! Triple jinx! Crap!"

"Jinx!" Sam said this before Nikki could get the chance to say another word. As a result, Sam put out his right palm as if expecting Nikki to hand him something.

"I hate you, Sam." Nikki pulled out a dollar bill from her right pants pocket and slapped it down onto Sam's palm. Sam smirked and nodded as he took the dollar bill for his own. Kailey and Martin kept quiet as they watched the three older children interact.

"I hate you too, bitch," Sam replied.

Nikki then let out a yawn. "So you guys know the End-Of-The-Year dance is like in two weeks, right?" Sam and Kelsey both nodded. "Who are you guys gonna go with? Kelsey, who do you hope asks you out?"

"I don't really know actually." Kelsey blushed a little, butterflies soaring slightly in her stomach. Talk about boys always caused awkwardness and sweat for the blonde girl, her blue eyes widening as if she saw a ghost. "I mean anyone from Sam's group of friends...well almost anyone, by the way."

"What do you mean 'almost'?" Sam rubbed his chin. It took a few seconds for Sam to fully realize what Kelsey meant, but as soon as he understood, he just nodded. "Oh."

Nikki then turned to Sam. "What about you, Sam? Who'd you go out with?"

"Um..." But it was difficult for Sam to be able to make out anything. He has no idea what to say nor think about the question fully. "I don't really know, I mean alot of the girls at our school - you gotta admit they're pretty hot."

"Are we both on that list?" Nikki asked.

"I think we're top," Kelsey added.

"Um..." Sam's cheeks reddened immensely. His sister began to giggle while Martin rolled his eyes and stuck his index fingers inside his ears to not hear the rest talk about relationships. To Martin, it was "immature seriousleh". Furthermore, Sam couldn't deny that Nikki and Kelsey were extremely cute, likely the two most attractive girls to him.

"Do you like them both, Sammy?" Kailey cooed.

Sam covered his face with his right palm in embarrassment. "Kailey, shut up." The rest of the girls giggled at Sam's reaction.

Then Sam and Nikki both faced each other. "You suck." Then they both realized that they said the exact words at the exact same time. "Jinx! Double jinx! Triple jinx! Crap!"

"Jinx!" Sam said this before Nikki could get the chance to say another word. As a result, Sam put out his right palm as if expecting Nikki to hand him something.

"Ah, damnit!" Nikki then gave Sam another dollar bill.

"Are you two like five years old or something?" Kelsey snickered.

Before anyone could say anything more, the school bus came over. "HURRY UP, KIDS, WE'RE RUNNING LATE!"

* * *

When the five arrived at school, Sam, Nikki, and Kelsey split away from Kailey and Martin as the latter two went off towards their Kindergarten classroom while the former three went over to their lockers. When they reached the lockers, they gazed to see Cory across the hall opening up his locker by himself. They watched as two Fourth Grade boys who weren't in Mr. Garrison's class sneaked up behind him and shoved him into his own locker. The two boys began to laugh.

"Ow! What the heck?!" Cory tried to punch the boys with his left hand, but he missed his swing.

The two boys grabbed Cory's arms then threw him down on the ground. "Still a little faggot, just like he'd always been," one boy said.

"That's what you get, doing all that shit you've done this year." The other boy flipped Cory off with his middle finger before both boys walked around the corner out of sight, leaving a weeping Cory on the ground. Other Fourth graders were nearby watching the very brief commotion. They snickered and laughed. One girl even stated that Cory "deserved it". Cory quickly shut his locker and ran up the stairs out of sight

"That's nice to see." Kelsey smirked at the entire commotion. "Serves him right, after all the shit he's done."

"I can't agree more." Like usual, even if Nikki has a different opinion at the start, she generally finds herself agreeing with Kelsey in the end - loyal, to a fault.

"I'd rather not talk about Cory right now." In the back of Sam's mind, he very much wishes he could forget about all of the drama that happened between him and Cory. He wish he could forget about what he and his friends did to him and how he lied to the Principal and got Cory into so much trouble.

Claire Stotch then came up to Sam, Nikki, and Kelsey. "Hey there, fellas! Mighty fine morning it is today, huh? I can't wait to see what Mr. Garrison has to teach us today!" The latter three, like usual, made no response of any kind whenever Claire came to them, as the three only saw them a nuisance and a bother. But Claire continued on. "Why, you three sure aren't that energetic today."

"It's Monday," Sam finally replied after an entire minute in a curt tone.

"So it is." Claire darted her eyes side-to-side, watching various students go about their business, as she then faced the other three. "Anyways, I'm gonna go to class. You three should come with, class is gonna start soon."

"Yeah, we'll catch up to you." Kelsey waved at Claire as she left. As soon as she was sure Claire was gone, Kelsey turned back to the other two and groaned deeply in true frustration. "Okay, seriously, does she ever shut the fuck up about school? Or how she's supposed to be all like some goodie-two-shoes or some shit? Gosh, she is so annoying!"

"Yeah, I agree, and I can't take it anymore." Nikki shook her head and folded her arms as her eyes met the McCormick girl's. "She's literally the embodiment of a two-faced bitch. More so than Charlie Brown, yes."

Knowing the two girls very well throughout the years, Sam knew how hypocritical they're being. He knew that since the beginning of the Fourth Grade, Nikki and Kelsey had become what they hate about Claire. Furthermore, he couldn't really understand why they mention Charlie Brown so much. He's a stereotypical nerd, but it meant nothing to Sam anyways. Sam didn't really care about most people outside his social circle. Of course though, he himself could never go against social norms, and at the end of the day, the peer pressure he felt will always force Sam to fall in line. "True."

When the three entered Mr. Garrison's class, Mr. Garrison had the projector screen down with a layout of the classroom desks. Using Microsoft Excel, Mr. Garrison placed one student's name on each desk. "Okay, class, we're all moving seats this week. Please refer to the chart right here to know where you are sitting."

Kelsey shifted her eyes towards the front to see the chart. The top edge was marked "FRONT" and the bottom edge was marked "BACK". She then realized that she would be sitting in the 2nd row, 4th column from the right (where students would enter). Directly next to her to the right would be Cory. _Ah shit, not him again._ As the entire class got up to move to their new seats, Kelsey sat down in her assigned spot. Despite Cory being there, at least she had her friends nearby.

Cory, on the other hand, felt his heart drop when he saw the seating assignments. To his left was Kelsey. To his right was Nikki. And all around him were the rest of the Nikki's and Kelsey's friends. He was trapped inside a circle of beautiful girls, all of which who hated him. Cory just slammed his head down on his new desk and never looked back up. His heart and luck felt like it was thrown down into an abyss.

Both Cory and Kelsey didn't know what to say to each other. Cory knew that Kelsey hated her. Kelsey didn't like Cory for all of the wrong things he had done, and the time when he pushed her down last week. For Cory, it was the feeling of nervousness, and for Kelsey, it was the feeling of disgust. Nevertheless, neither party could be able to strike up conversation.

It wasn't like they had the chance anyways, however, since Mr. Garrison immediately began his lesson plan about the N.W.A., a group of rappers. It would then verge off into talking about the universe and the theory of the Heat Death, then finally would branch back into talking about Mr. Bart's sex life, who is another Fourth Grade teacher at this school.

During morning recess, Nikki and Kelsey were at their lockers again. They were both fairly silent, which is generally unlike most days, since they were both very talkative around each other. However, this was because there actually wasn't anything interesting to talk about today. That was until John Donovan came up to Kelsey holding a bouquet of pink flowers. The way John faced Kelsey immediately brought life and butterflies into her heart. "H-hey."

"Uh...hey." John also sounded about as nervous as Kelsey did. "I'm sure...you're wondering about these..."

"You want to go with me to the dance?" The words came out too quickly for Kelsey's taste as she immediately clamped her mouth shut again. She knew she sounded fairly aggressive, and she knew that this wasn't the time to be a killjoy.

"Yeah." John let out a slight nod. He then offered forth the flowers to Kelsey. "Uh, here. I can't really hang out today, Leslie and I have stuff to-"

"I know, she told me already." Kelsey knew that John and Leslie both had to do chores around the house since they put it off during the weekend.

"Thanks." John then walked away quickly.

"I wish all guys were nervous around me like John was around you." Nikki knew that when a guy was nervous around her, there was a fairly good chance that that person likes her. However, Kelsey received the majority of the attention.

Kelsey was smart enough to sense the jealousy out of Nikki. "Nikki, it's alright. It's just a dance, and I don't think John and I will take it to the next level of actual dating. I don't think I'm ready for that, um yet. I think. I'm not sure."

"He wasn't like himself. He's usually not that nervous." Nikki shook her head. "Wish I had a date."

"Nikki, relax, the dance is in two weeks, you got time." Kelsey rubbed her chin, then the thought came across her. A sassy smirk formed across her face. "What about Sam?"

"Sam? Pssht, fuck that guy." Nikki blew a raspberry in mock disapproval. However, deep down inside, she did really like Sam, but she could never admit it. She was too proud to admit it.

"Yes, you would fuck that guy." Kelsey let out innocent giggles as she watched her best friend suddenly blush, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment.

"Kelsey, you pervert!"

* * *

Clyde Donovan and Heidi Turner first dated during their Sophomore year in high school. Of course, a few years alter, Heidi would conceive both John and Leslie. Clyde would inherit his father's shoe store while Heidi ended up working at the supermarket, which meant that Clyde would be the main breadwinner of the family. Today, dinner was bread, broccoli, carrots, and roasted chicken. John and Leslie sat across from each other, and the parents sat across from each other.

"So how was you guys' days today?" Heidi asked. "Did either of you do anything special?"

"I found a date for the End-Of-The-Year dance," John replied.

"That's nice, who?" Clyde asked.

"Kelsey McCormick." The two parents immediately knew that it was Kenny's and Kelly's child.

Heidi immediately skipped to Leslie, however. "How about you, Leslie? Did anyone ask you out?"

"Fred Cotswolds asked me out," Leslie replied. "I said yes." It was a coincidence that both of the twins managed to get dates to the dance.

"Oh, the son of that guy," Clyde replied. "Well regardless, good for you, Leslie."

"Yeah, good for you!" Heidi nodded in agreement.

"Wait, what?" John was only half surprised by the outcome and reaction of his parents. Despite managing to grab a date with one of the prettiest girls in the Fourth grade, it was like usual that Clyde and Heidi paid more attention to Leslie's positive results than John's. "What the fuck? Why-"

"John, what did I tell you about swearing at the dinner table?" Clyde shot a forceful glare at John.

"Sorry, dad." John's anger died down as quickly as it rose.

Heidi rested her chin on her left arm, and her left elbow rested on the dinner table. Heidi fluttered her eyelashes as she prepared to listen closely to her daughter. "So, Leslie, tell me more about that Cotswolds child...err, Fred. What's he like?"

"Well...he's pretty smart, like his dad, and to be honest, I don't really know him that well, we only agreed to go to the dance after school, like right before the bus came so I didn't really have that much time to ask much about him." Leslie only gave a slight shrug to show her confusion about the other boy.

"Yeah, but you should still get to know him a bit more," Clyde replied. "Just remember Leslie, you can never be too careful around boys." John rolled his eyes.

"I will, thanks dad," Leslie nodded.

About an hour after dinner was finished, Leslie was busy getting started on her math homework. The progress was slow, but she would get every problem eventually, she always had. However, the door swiftly opened, and closed as quickly as it opened. Startled, she yelped and jumped in her seat and turned her head to see John standing in front of the door. "Holy shit, can't you knock? You scared the hell out of me! What if I was naked or something?"

"Oh shut it, you twit." John gritted his teeth and he grunted in frustration. "Why do you always do that every dinner?"

"Do what?" Leslie honestly had no clue what John was referring to, John was being too vague, and she hated it whenever anyone expects her to know things without giving her the full detail. Thus, her response rather showed her annoyance.

"You know what I'm talking about." John folded his arms and shook his head in anger. "How you always steal my thunder, how you always make our parents praise you more than me."

"What are you talking about?" Leslie stood up out of her chair to face John. Despite John being stronger than her, she knew that John wouldn't dare lay a finger on her. "The world doesn't revolve around you, John!"

"No, obviously not, because it revolves around you!" John then paced around the floor for a bit to let loose his energy. "You always act like you're God's gift to the world, and it shows how our parents favor you more than me."

"Yeah? Well at least I'm not a total dickbag to others, like how you were a dickbag to Cory," Leslie shot back.

John rolled his eyes again. "You don't even care about Cory, stop pretending you do! Weren't you the one who told everyone at school about Cory's crush on Kelsey anyways? Didn't you ruin him too?"

Leslie gasp, caught by surprise. How could her brother know the truth? "H-how did you know this?"

"Claire told me. I guess it's good for me that Claire can never manage to keep her big mouth shut." John let out a slight chuckle.

Leslie had enough of John at this point. "Just get out of my room, I'm doing homework, or I'm gonna tell mom and dad on you!"

John opened the door. He walked out, but then stuck his head back in to the doorway. "You're a class act, you know that? Pretty typical of an entitled, spoiled brat."

"Fuck you." Right as those words left Leslie's mouth, John pulled his head out of Leslie's room then shut the door. Leslie then let out an exasperated sigh as she slammed her head down on her homework that rested on her desk. It was going to be a long night for her.

* * *

 **I think these chapters are going to end up being shorter from this point, not too short for you guys hopefully.**

 **Anyways, one review stuck out to me, and I want to discuss that review a bit. So I never intended on PC Principal/Counselor and Principal Victoria to be major characters, and as seen in chapter three, PC Counselor was fired. I'm uncertain whether or not I'll bring him back, but the reason why I don't want to go too deeply into their relationship is that I don't know what season 20 of South Park is going to entail, almost anything can happen between the in-universe timeline of those events and this fic. Therefore, I'm purposely being vague as possible with those two anyways. Also, since neither are major characters, I don't think I need to flesh them out that much, for now at least. Like always, that is subject to change.**

 **Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Until next time.**


	8. Chapter 8: It Begins

**I had to write this chapter very quickly as I am going out of town for two weeks today, so I was tired the entire time writing this chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

"Yo, get up. We're gonna be late for school."

"Go away." Martin Cartman could feel his head spin as his sister Nikki towered over him as he lied down on his bed, her hands on his body shaking its entirety. "I wanna sleep in, Nikki!" Martin was actually about to wake up and punch Nikki in the stomach until he opened his eyes to see the clock on the nightstand read 7:30.

"Get up, idiot, I'm not gonna say it again."

Martin jolted out of bed with a start to stare out the window at the morning sun. He looked out the window and it's a beautiful Tuesday morning. Putting on a tan coat and brown pants, we went over to the restroom as Nikki followed him out of his bedroom. His hair was a bit unkempt and as brown as Nikki's, but he didn't care. Both children then went downstairs to the kitchen to only see two bowls of cereal and milk.

"Finally you two are up, what took you kids so long?" Red was busy putting away dishes as she was already dressed and ready to go to work.

Nikki sat down at one of the bowls and began to eat. "Martin's sleeping in again." She rolled her eyes as she took another bite of her cereal.

"Shut up!" Martin groaned, his brain lurching back and forth still from Nikki rudely interrupting his sleep. Of course though, both were going to be late.

"Just hurry up, I don't want to walk to school because you're being too slow again," Nikki scoffed.

"Just let me eat, you bitch," Martin sneered back.

However, Eric, who was busy straightening his jacket, glared at both of his children as they argued. "Stop it, both of you. You both are already going to be late, hurry your butts up already."

Without another word, both kids quickly rushed to finish eating, grabbed their backpacks, and with a "Bye mom, bye dad," they both sprinted towards the bus stop. As Nikki was thin and fit while Martin was slightly overweight, Nikki was much faster than her brother. It took them five minutes to reach the bus stop, and by that time, the bus was already there. Watching in terror as Sam, Kelsey, and Kailey got on the bus, Nikki turned around to see her brother running after her. "Hurry up, Martin!"

"SIT DOWN, WE'RE RUNNING LATE!" Ms. Crabtree was as angry as she usually was. Originally raped and killed twenty years ago, one fateful day months later, a heavenly artifact in the form of a simple wooden stick was discovered by Eric Cartman. Thus, when it was returned to its rightful place, many people were brought back from the dead accidentally as a result, including Chef and Ms. Crabtree.

"Wait, Ms. Crabtree, wait." Nikki glanced back at her brother, who was several yards away. She then faced back to Ms. Crabtree. "Just wait another minute, my brother's being slow-"

But Ms. Crabtree wouldn't have it. "SIT DOWN, WE'RE RUNNING LATE!" Just as she was about to close the bus doors, Nikki and Martin both quickly jumped on. The two kids ran back down to the bus, Nikki sitting next to Kelsey while Martin sitting next to Kailey. After the bus doors did close, Ms. Crabtree shifted to 1st gear, the bus suddenly lurching forward as all of the kids fell backwards into their seats.

Martin was still huffing and puffing from the running. He hated every time Nikki rushed him, although today was necessary - it's not a nice feeling to have to walk to school because you missed the bus. Kailey looked sideways at Martin, examining then realizing why he was breathing heavily. "Geez, you were close to missing the bus."

"Yeah." Martin nodded as he faced the Broflovski daughter. "Did you do the homework? The one about George Washington?"

"I did," Kailey replied, "did you want to copy my homework?"

Martin shook his hands and head. "No, no, I don't. I already did it. I was just wondering if you did it."

The red-haired girl nodded. "Yes, I did the homework. It wasn't that hard for me." After about a few seconds of silence, Kailey looked around, then faced Martin again. "Are you eating school lunch today? Do you know what it is?"

"Yes, I'm eating school lunch. No, I do not know what it is." It was mostly just small talk between the younger siblings. Whenever the older children weren't around to spread drama (which was very often by the way), the younger ones would talk about random life happenings such as school and what would be for their lunch.

The two kids were perfectly silent while most of the other kids were yelling and screaming on the bus. The bus made a sudden stop at the school, causing everyone to fly forward into the seats in front of them. "OK KIDS, SHUT UP AND GET OUT!" The screech of Ms. Crabtree echoed through the bus, putting Martin and Kailey back from trance into reality. They both got up off the bus and jumped out.

Kailey had auburn hair, a yellow jacket, and black pants. She was rather on the skinnier side of the girls in her grade, but other than that, she was rather average-looking. In fact, if she were to be placed in a crowd of other girls her age, she'd be one of the last girls to be picked apart from the crowd. That said, she and Martin were able to slip through the masses of older children without getting pushed around much. As they went down straight and rounded a left corner, they both saw a certain raven-haired Fourth Grade boy open up his locker. "Hey look, it's that one guy...what's his face...Cory. Martin, let's say hi to him!"

Martin took a closer look at Cory. His eyes were closed, and from his facial expressions and the frown, Martin could tell Cory was not too happy. "He doesn't look too happy, are you sure about this?"

"Oh come on, you big wimp, what's the worst that could happen?" Kailey rolled her eyes as she skipped up to Cory and tapped him on the back.

"Augh! What the-" Cory immediately jumped in reaction to the touch. He quickly turned around and held his hands to his heart, expecting the worst. But instead, he found himself face-to-face with the siblings of those whom he despised. "Oh. It's you two."

"We scared you good, didn't we?" Kailey giggled as she placed her hands over her chin.

"What do you two want?" Cory's words and tone were rather swift and harsh, expressing clear disapproval.

"We just wanted to say hi!" Kailey smiled as innocently as she could. Martin, on the other hand, remained still and expressionless like a statue.

Cory was losing patience however, given that he did not want anything to do with Sam or Nikki, and certainly not Sam, not after all he had done. "Okay, are you done now?"

Neither Kailey nor Martin appreciated Cory's rudeness. As a result, Kailey sniffled a little. "Why are you so mean today?"

Of course though, if Martin was full of anything (besides weight), it was bravado. "Yeah, go be mean somewhere else, you big poop butt!" Of course though, being as young as Martin is, he wouldn't exactly know the more offensive insults (despite knowing the true meaning of the word "fuck").

However, Cory was more annoyed, not by Martin's insult, but by the fact that his time was being wasted by the siblings of those he's not very fond of. "You - you know what? W-why don't you go away before I kick your ass?" The last sentence came out rather hesitantly. While Cory never saw himself as a bully, he didn't realize it but he was in fact tilting as weeks went on.

However, none of the three were paying any sort of attention to the three Fourth Graders who approached the scene - Sam, Nikki, and Kelsey. Nikki went up to Cory's locker door and with as much force as she could slammed it shut, causing Cory, Kailey, and Martin to jump. Predictably, Nikki was seething in anger as she watched Cory threaten her little brother, her teeth chattering with rage. "You're gonna beat up my brother? I don't think so! Are you an asshole, Cory?" The more she learned about Cory, the more she began to see how terrible of a person Cory really is.

While Kelsey had no direct relation to the younger siblings, she did not like was she was seeing nonetheless. "Yeah, first you'll beat up on girls, and now you want to beat up people who are years younger than you are. Pussy."

"Leave them alone, or the person's ass who's gonna be kicked is yours, Cory!" Nikki pointed down the hall, not at any particular person, but as if telling Cory to leave in the direction she is pointing. As Cory hauled his backpack and slowly walked away, Nikki breathed a sigh of relief. "Holy crap, the more I know that guy, the more I realize how much of an asshole he really is. I was that close to punching him in the face or something."

Sam did not say anything the entire time. Granted, he did not enjoy others picking on his sister, but then again, as he learned quite a bit of psychology from his own father, he was sure that due to the events that had happened this year, Cory was left in a rather unstable mental and emotional state. Peering over to his sister, he could see that she was wiping away tears as she was calming down. "Are you alright? Did he touch you or anything?"

Kailey tugged her brother's right arm. "No, but Sammy, why is Cory so mean now? He was nice before."

"It's - it's nothing." Sam let out a harsh exhale as he did his best to explain the next part. "He's - he's just a bit stressed out. From...work and stuff. Stuff like that. It's best if you stay away from him and leave him alone, how 'bout that, ok?" Kailey silently nodded at her brother's words. "It's a bit of a rough patch, but he'll break through eventually, I promise you, just give him some space, he'll be fine." Sam only shook his head though, he was sure things were going to turn out everything but fine.

"Alright," Kailey nodded.

"Just run along now," Sam added.

Kailey and Martin both nodded. As the two parted ways from the older three kids, Martin also breathed a sigh of relief. "Glad that's over now, that was almost stupid."

"I'm just glad no one got hurt, that is all," Kailey nodded.

* * *

Richard Adler is one of the Kindergarten teachers at the school. Like usual, he wore a green sweater vest with white sleeves and brown pants. His forehead showed evidence that he was balding, with only a little bit of brown hair left. He was a rather short man, but of average waist, so he had the appearance of someone who was a little overweight for their height.

"Alright kids, quit screwin' around and sit down!" All of the Kindergarten kids did as told and sat down. "Now today, I have to teach you all about bullying."

"What's bullying?" A young boy asked.

"That's a very good question." Mr. Adler cleared his throat before he began to proceed. "It's when someone is basically screwin' around with someone else in a way where the former person hurts the latter person's feelings. For example, if one boy pushes around another boy, the first boy is doing the bullying. Just as if a girl were calling another girl names, that's also bullying. Bullying can be physical or verbal also."

"Why do people bully?" A young girl asked.

"Ah, yes, I was just getting to that. There are many reasons people bully. One is they want power, or to appear to be powerful to other students. Another is that the bully might have an abusive family at home, or the bully might have been bullied at school and now he wants to take it out on others. And of course, another reason is that the bullied might be too weird, and the bullies might want to put him or her in their place." Mr. Adler rubbed his chin to say more, but nothing more could come about it.

"What can we do about it?" Kailey asked.

Mr. Adler nodded. "You could tell the teacher, or if you're brave enough you could stand up against the bully, but it is important not to instigate a fight, that would be screwin' around, and that would be very bad. Now anymore questions?" When no other Kindergartener made a peep, Mr. Adler nodded. "Okay, class, you are dismissed."

It was 12:10, and Kindergarten classes generally leave school about two hours earlier than all of the other grades. When Kailey the classroom, she was met by a Martin who was wearing a devious grin. "Hey, wanna take some chips and soda from the cafeteria today?"

"I don't know..." Kailey was never one to break school rules. On the other hand, the idea of chips and soda sounded delicious to her. "Will we get caught?"

"It's just Fourth Graders to Sixth Graders eating lunch, I don't think they care about us taking food, I bet they've done some worse shit before!" Martin counter.

"Hm..." Junk food was just too irresistible of an opportunity for Kailey to pass up. "...oh alright. But just remember, if we do get in trouble, I'm blaming you, ok?"

"Oh don't be such a worrywart, come on!" Martin ran off a few feet, but looked back as Kailey stood rooted in her place. "Hurry, this way!"

The two of them entered the Cafeteria while it was packed with the older kids. As the two wiggled their way through crowds drawing as little attention as possible, and as the pair got to the vending machine, a commotion caused them to pause. Ears perked with curiosity, they both turned around. A few yards ahead were two Fourth Grade boys standing over Cory, who sat alone at a table. One wore a blue jacket and the other wore a green jacket. "Hey, Cory, that's a nice pizza you have." The boy in blue picked up Cory's pizza.

"Hey, give that back!" Cory tried to reach out to grab his pizza, but he only grabbed ahold of the cheesy side. Because of how greasy it was, his right hand slipped off, catching tomato sauce and cheese all over.

The boy in blue threw the pizza on the ground. The one in green shouted, "Faggot!"

"What the hell?! I don't have any money now!" Cory wailed.

The entire cafeteria began laughing at Cory's misfortune. Heart pierced by all of the laughter, Cory immediately ran out the cafeteria doors. Kailey and Martin, having seen enough, looked at each other. "Should we go check it out?" Kailey asked. Martin only gave a simple shrug.

The two went out the cafeteria. They could hear sobbing to their left so they went towards the source. They knew that if they turned the corner, they'd see Cory right there. "We should go comfort him, Martin."

Martin shook his head. "Uh, no. I'm staying right here. I don't want my ass kicked, man!"

"But didn't you hear what Mr. Adler taught us today? That's bullying, I think."

"Yeah, well he bullied us, and besides, didn't your brother Sam tell you not to talk to him, didn't he tell you to leave him alone?"

Sometimes, Kailey wondered if her brother, the one person she trusted the most, was all that truthful. Sometimes, she wondered if her brother truly had her best interests in his heart. Nevertheless, she knew that her brother knew more about the situation than she does herself. "Alright. You're right, Martin, let's go home."

* * *

When Kailey heard her brother come home and enter his own bedroom, Kailey left her bedroom to excitedly greet Sam. "Hello, Sammy!"

"Oh, hey, Kailey, what have you been up to?" Sam asked.

"Did you see those two bullies push Cory down? Do you know them?"

Sam immediately went pale as he narrowed his eyes at his sister. "Where the hell did you hear this? How do you know this?"

"Uh..." At this moment she knew she was caught red-handed, she knew she was in a place she wasn't supposed to be. "I was in the cafeteria. Me and Martin, we were gonna get some food from the vending machine."

Sam let out a shrug. "Well, Kailey, you know too much junk food is bad for you."

Kailey nodded. "I know, Sammy, I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

Sam let out a laugh. "Well, I mean, sneaking into the cafeteria, that's hardly even worth snitching on anyways. But I suppose that's not what you really want to talk about do you?"

"I want to hear about Cory," Kailey said. "Who were those two boys? What about the two different boys who pushed Cory into his own locker yesterday? Why is everyone so mean to Cory?" Before Sam could answer, Kailey went on. "My teacher taught us about bullying today, he said that it's because bullies try to get power, or maybe bullies themselves were bullied. I mean I can kind of see the connection, but I'm just worried about Cory, like what if he's not doing alright, what if-"

"Kailey." Kailey immediately fell silent as she sat straight to listen to her own brother. "Look, the things that are happening with Cory, it will be fine."

"Sammy, how can you say that?" Kailey replied. "And why don't you talk to him?"

"Listen to me, Kailey. Everything that is happening with Cory right now, it might be complicated, but everything will turn out fine. And I can't talk to him because...things are just not turning out the way things are, but I promise you that it will be okay, for all of us. I guarantee it. And it's like I always told you, everyone always gets along in the end."

Kailey always ran to her brother for help, always found her brother dependable, always found that her brother would be there for her always. That being said, this was perhaps the first time in her life that Kailey began to have serious doubts in her brother. She was beginning to wonder if Sam was being truthful at all. Everything Mr. Adler taught, everything she saw today, and everything Sam said...nothing added up. And she knew that Sam was trying to protect her worldview, but perhaps filters weren't always a good thing, and so her last few words were so soft Sam could barely hear. "Okay. I believe you."

* * *

 **So this chapter wasn't supposed to be about the younger siblings originally, it was supposed to be about Nikki and Kelsey, but I figured I could condense those two into the next chapter, and I was sure you guys wanted to see a little about the younger siblings.**

 **So here's the situation: I'm going to be gone for the next two weeks, I'll be going out of town starting tomorrow, so therefore, the earliest I can update this will be in three weeks, assuming no freak accident happens to me while I'm away. That said, you're welcome to drop a review between now and then.**


	9. Chapter 9: Hot and Cold

**So I have not died. I've been quite busy over the past month, due to multiple vacations and other life issues. But hopefully, since I'm back now and likely won't be going anywhere for the rest of the summer, things can finally go back on track.**

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

The morning sun shone through the curtains of the bedroom window in between John Donovan's eyelids, causing him to open his eyes into what appeared to be a bright Wednesday morning. Getting dressed into his usual clothing of a blue jacket band black pants, he took notice of his bedroom door suddenly opening, revealing his twin sister Leslie. She scanned the room for a few seconds and saw a bouquet of pink flowers on John's desk. "Weren't those flowers supposed to go to Kelsey?"

"Leslie, what are you-" John first saw Leslie at the doorway then followed her finger pointing to the flowers on his desk. "Oh shit. I hella forgot yesterday." He picked up the flowers and examined them in full detail, its physical beauty and perfection reminiscing Kelsey's. "Oh crap, this is gonna be so embarrassing."

"You asked her out to the dance two days ago, not yesterday, idiot." Leslie let out a snort followed by light chuckles. "Why are you so forgetful?" As smart as John is and as good of grades he could get in school, sometimes he was miserably forgetful, although thankfully, this wasn't significant nor did it occur to often.

"You suck." Of course though, that rather came out of nowhere from John.

"So do you, idiot. Come on, let's go get breakfast before you forget about that too." Leslie left the bedroom, trailing vicious snickers behind herself.

The twins went downstairs to the kitchen to see no one else at home so they both concluded that their parents are already gone. However, another set of footsteps could be heard behind them so they turned around to see their mom Heidi. "Hello kids."

"Hi mom." Leslie made a modest wave at her mother.

"Hi sweetie." Heidi extended her arms out and the two females drew into a hug. During the hug, Leslie had her head underneath Heidi's right armpit, and from there, Leslie caught John folding his arms and rolling her eyes. In response, Leslie stuck her tongue out at John.

"Are you two done yet?" John's tone made him sound rather impatient. He rolled his eyes again. He hated it whenever his parents became all lovey dovy.

Letting go of Leslie, Heidi shook her head at John with a disapproving frown. "John, that is not very nice. That is rude. And furthermore, I want to discuss with you with your work on washing the dishes last evening. You didn't completely wash off all of the soap."

"What's wrong with leaving some soap on there?" John's eyes wandered side-to-side, then rose back onto his mother in bewilderment. "And why don't you ever yell at Leslie for not cleaning them completely?"

"Do not change the topic on me." Heidi didn't like John's tone of voice; to her, it came off as rude and insulting. "And furthermore, because soap can cause you to be sick because of the chemicals. Also, you do not take that tone of voice with me, young man, do you understand?"

John simply rolled his eyes once more. "Yeah, whatever, since Leslie gets to-"

"Say 'Yes, Mother' without the eyeroll." Heidi only needed to stomp her right foot once to mean business

"Yes, Mother."

"Good, now both of you eat breakfast and get ready for school, you're already running late."

After Leslie and John finished breakfast and left the house, they both began walking west towards school. The Donovans only lived no more than six blocks away from school, which is why they don't take the bus. "It's just bullshit - just like how mom and dad are always biased towards you, Leslie."

"Maybe if you kept your trap shut she wouldn't bitch at you constantly." Leslie followed up her confrontation with a haughty sneer. "Maybe if you weren't so nasty and tried so hard to be a bad boy-"

"Maybe you should shut up." John sped a few feed ahead of Leslie, effectively ending the conversation.

Leslie rolled her eyes in frustration. Being the victor of their parents' bias, she could never see John's point of view; however, she did not approve of John's rude behavior in general. Therefore, she sped up after him. "You know, the problem here is that really - I'm sick of you playing victim, or playing the victim card all the time. 'Oh no, my parents aren't coddling me twenty-four seven!'"

John stopped abruptly in his tracks, nearly causing Leslie to bump into him. He tuned around and pointed at Leslie's heart. "Okay, we are done talking about this." With a last sigh, he managed to muster a final "Idiot" out of his own breath.

When the twins reached school, they went directly to Mr. Garrison's class because they were already going to be late. As the two stormed in, Mr. Garrison was sitting at his desk looking at his clipboard of children in his class. Catching the attention of the Donovan twins entering the room, Mr. Garrison turned his head to the left and looked up to the two. "One minute late."

Leslie stuck her hands out. "Mr. Garrison, we can explain-"

"Just shut up and sit down. I don't wanna hear anymore excuses." As the twins took their seats, Mr. Garrison stood up from his desk. After his lesson plans about teaching the legacy of Donald Trump was over, the recess bell rang.

John was busy surfing the internet on his cell phone. As he reached his locker and opened it to grab the flowers that were supposed to go to Kelsey, out of the corner of his right eye he saw Sam approach. He noticed that Sam was not happy, and it was very likely he wasn't happy to see John. "So weren't those flowers supposed to go to Kelsey?"

"Yeah, I forgot, you're too are gonna shit all over me for forgetting about bringing Kelsey flowers, huh?" John rolled his eyes, expecting Sam to give another rant about his sudden forgetfulness, just like what Leslie had done earlier this morning.

"Wait what?" Sam raised an eyebrow, partially wondering why he was mentioned alongside another unknown person.

"Leslie bitched at me today for bringing Kelsey flowers," John replied.

"Oh, well I'm not here to talk to you about that actually." Sam took off his green ushanka and held it in his hands. He shook his head and closed his eyes for three seconds. "I just...I just don't know how I feel..." John stayed silent. Sam rubbed his forehead with his left hand. "Let's not pretend for a moment that I don't care about Cory. I do." John nodded but still remained silent. Sam gave a harsh sigh, mustering up as much courage as he could. "Okay, do you know what I hate? I hate how you - you were a total dick to him all year. Well I was pretty bad to Cory as well, but still, John this isn't right."

"Do you want my honest opinion? Because here's my honest opinion." John fully faced Sam as Sam put his hat back on. "I'm not doing this out of revenge. The truth of the matter is that I don't want him around. I don't want him tainting my image - or tainting our image."

"You care that much about your image?" Sam retorted.

"Oh come on, like you don't, Sam? As much as you talk highly about Cory you don't even ever seem to be there for him whenever things go wrong. But that's besides the point." John shook his head and swept his hands side-to-side, as if telling a child not to do something. "Let's get the facts straight though - Cory is a creeper. He's a stalker. He might be a pervert - I don't know, I don't remember the last time he made a sex joke. But anyways, you know he's always obsessed over some girl. Always staring at some girl, and it's beyond creepy, it's predatorial."

"He's a nice guy, and besides, there was no reason to manipulate him like that. Like what the fuck, this is beyond reasonable, how can you find this shit reasonable?" Sam rubbed his eyebrows with his right index finger in frustration.

"Well he's not that nice of a guy. And the way he just stands around in every conversation - it's just creepy as fuck, you know?" John deeply groaned as he grabbed the flowers out of his locker and slammed it shut. "He doesn't do anything to benefit us."

"Uh, you've been telling him to do all that retarded shit all year that he got in trouble for, hello?" It was mind boggling for Sam trying to talk to John about Cory. Every single time, he couldn't believe how John would do all these mental gymnastics to make Cory seem like the bad guy. Sam could never convince John that he was in the wrong. But for as long as he knew John, which was only since Second Grade, he could never figure out why he had to act like the alpha male of the male students in their grade, never figured out why he had to be such a bad boy.

On the other hand, John was sick of Cory being mentioned all of the time. He could not see why Sam liked Cory so much as a friend. Furthermore, he was so annoyed by Cory's presence that although he enjoyed hazing Cory, deep down he preferred it if he never had to interact with Cory again. Of course though, there was also the issue of Cory potentially stealing Kelsey away, and after seeing those (terribly written) live sitcoms on TV of the stereotypical nerd stealing away the pretty girl, he preferred not to take his chances. "Okay, but my point still stands. I don't want him around. In fact, starting immediately, I'm not going to initiate anything with him, I'm not going to look at him, I'm not going to talk to him. But if he fucks with me in any way, then I'm going to make sure he'll pay. Got that?"

"Fine," Sam nodded.

As the two boys parted ways, Nikki was around the corner watching the entire conversation and the potential shattering of the two boys' friendship. She watched as John walked past her, but he took no notice of her presence. Watching that conversation suddenly made Nikki remember why Cory was the way he is. _Oh my gosh, I can't believe that I forgot why Cory did all those pranks. Funny, I'm just as forgetful as he is, oh the shame of it._ She turned her back to the lockers and leaned on them. She couldn't hate Cory any longer, anymore. All she could feel is pity.

Her left ear perked so she looked down the hall to her left. About a few yards ahead of her was John handing his flowers to Kelsey. "Hey, uh, yo, sorry I forgot to give you these yesterday."

"Two days ago," Kelsey replied. "You asked me out to the dance two days ago." She chuckled at the fact that John, like most boys, was so infatuated with her beauty that it made him forget about many things, the flowers included. However, she too was slightly nervous around boys, and John was no exception, she could feel her heart beat slightly faster than normal. "B-But thanks for the flowers." She did her best to flash a nervous smile.

Kelsey's smile made John blush. "So do you wanna hang out today?

"No, sorry, I'm busy." Nikki was taken aback. As far as she knew, Kelsey most certainly did not have anything important planned today, so this was likely an excuse for her to avoid John.

"Damn. Well I-I should go. Bye." John, wiping sweat off his forehead, left the opposite direction from where Nikki was standing.

Everything came back to Nikki now as her eyes fell to the floor. It was sickening to see John manipulate Cory into doing pranks and evil deeds only for John to end up with Kelsey and Cory to (as far as she knew) be in big trouble. It wasn't right at all. But she can't do anything about it because she feared that John would do something terrible to her, especially since he is backed by all of his friends, and Nikki wouldn't have much backup at all because all of her friends don't like Cory either. She considered telling Principal Victoria about the truth, but then she realized that John might think that Cory ratted him out and so he would maul Cory.

"Hey Nikki! Didn't see you there!"

Nikki looked up, startled. "Woah! Hey, uh, I didn't notice you there, Kels."

"Liar, you watched the entire time." Kelsey smirked then looked back behind herself, but seeing no one of interest, knowing John is gone. She then turned back to Nikki. "So what do you think? Of John?"

"Uh, Kelsey, have you ever considered getting to know John? You know, talk to him about what's up with his life?" Nikki folded her arms, awaiting Kelsey's answer.

"What?" Kelsey scoffed. She shook her head as she faced down the brunette girl. "Look, I like John, as a friend, but not as a love interest. Boys are cruel and disgusting."

Kelsey's response, based on her experiences, made sense to Nikki, but Nikki still found it rather shallow to her. "Okay, well disregard your obvious sexism." Nikki stifled a snort and a laugh. "But let's be real though, I don't think John is as good as he says."

"What makes you say that?" Kelsey slowly spun around. "I mean you're Nikki, like you said yourself that you're supposed to never judge and - ah shit who am I kidding?" As she laughed, Nikki was left confused by Kelsey's reaction. Sometimes, she wondered how alike Kelsey would be to Cory.

"Okay, well I mean, if you're not actually interested in John, then you probably should let him know, you don't want to lead him on into anything."

"Lead him on into what?" Kelsey stepped back in slight disgust. "Oh come on, we're not going to do _that_ , we're too young."

"What?" Nikki immediately facepalmed. "That's not what I meant. Get your mind out of the gutter. What I meant was you don't want to make John think you're just playing hard to get or something." Nikki let out a deep sigh in frustration. "Look, I get it, you don't like boys. That said, you should get to know him a little...before, you know, you might make a rash decision or something. Something..." Her true intention was to get Kelsey to see how much of a monster John is, but it was very hard to word it carefully. "Okay, I don't like John, he strikes me as a douche."

"I mean I guess I can see that." Kelsey shrugged. "Then again, come on, every boy is a douche, so that's not really saying much. Yeah, you could argue that John is only trying to date me for status, but same would go for every other guy who always swoons to me or some shit like that."

"Funny, because you'll kiss other boys to destroy relationships," Nikki retorted.

"Hey, shut up." Kelsey angrily glared at her best friend. "Those stupid bitches like Karis or whatever deserved getting cheated on." In order for Kelsey to enact revenge on the girls she hated, anytime one of such girls would date a boy, Kelsey would use her good looks to seduce and make out with said boy and would make sure the girl was at the right place at the right time. Kelsey taught this trick to the rest of her friends as well. "Whatever, let's actually go outside and do something now."

Nikki folded her arms again and grumbled. "Yes. Let's."

* * *

"And so, you see, that's the story of that fat skank Shillary Clinton and her email scandal. Now any questions, kids?" Most of the children were either asleep or paying no attention to another one of Mr. Garrison's political "lessons". As Mr. Garrison erased every last word on the chalkboard, the lunch bell rang. "Okay, kids, remember that we're going to be reading poetry after lunch. That is all."

Nikki walked alone this time on the way to lunch. However, as she got to the entrance to the cafeteria, she bumped straight into Sam. "Ow!" Both children stumbled backwards. As Nikki regained balance, her eyes fell to the floor seeing a bouquet of blue flowers lying on the ground. She picked them up and holding the flowers with her right hand, she stuck out the flowers to Sam. "These are yours I'm guessing? So who's the lucky gal?"

Sam nervously peered his surroundings. Most of the children already entered the cafeteria room and were well on their way to lunch. He then laid his green eyes onto Nikki's brown eyes. "Keep them." His words were so soft that Nikki could barely hear them.

Nevertheless, Nikki completely understood Sam's message and blushed deeply. "Wow, uh thanks. Um, I never imagined anyone asking me out to the dance, heh." Butterflies soared in Nikki's stomach. "A-And I didn't think it'd be you, it's just that our parents, you know-"

"Hey, w-we're not trying to live that legacy." Sam's throat was clogged with saliva from the nervousness of the situation. He tried desperately to clear his throat.

"And I'm not trying to live my dad's. And you know, being a mean fatty and all-"

"Nikki, you're not fat," Sam said. "And your dad isn't that fat anymore anyways."

"I was," Nikki countered.

"That was then though. This is now." Sam frowned though as he saw Nikki sigh and wipe her left bang back with her left hand. "What's wrong?"

"Ugh, I don't know." Nikki faced towards the cafeteria. "Well shit. I mean, I always imagined Kelsey to overshadow me. I've been pretty jealous of her, I just didn't imagine anyone asking me to the dance, or anyone else for that matter because all the guys are too focused on winning Kelsey. At the same time though, she's my best friend, like she was the reason why people don't bully me anymore, she's the reason why people don't bully any of my friends anymore, and it's confusing, but I'm worried about her, I just think I'm not doing enough to help her. And now we kinda got into an argument. Well it's not that bad, I think, but I don't know. I'm confused."

 _I am confused as well, holy shit._ Sam finally successfully cleared his throat of any leftover saliva still stuck in it. "I know how you feel. I've been there before. But listen: you'll get through this. You and I will get through this...hopefully. I mean after all, I am your ticket to that dance." Sam flashed his signature cocky smile at Nikki, his white teeth showing.

"Classic Sam." Nikki rolled her eyes. She sniffed the flowers in her hand, sensing the sweet aroma. "These are really great flowers, Sam! Thanks!" Nikki threw herself into Sam's arms.

Sam returned the hug, his heart beating faster. _Nikki is actually pretty hot._

"So when do we order tickets?" Nikki asked.

"I don't know, haven't heard anything about it," Sam shrugged.

"Just one thing though - what do we do if our dads find out that we're going to the dance together?" Nikki asked.

Sam rubbed his chin. "I...don't know. I don't know how well they like each other. But, just to be safe, let's say nothing. Alright?"

"Alright." Life seemed to fall into the right places at the right time for Nikki. She would be going out with the forbidden boy, just like in Romeo and Juliet, but this time, she was going to make sure she'd enjoy the experience. Plus, if things went well, she and Sam could turn a successful dance into an actual relationship.

Of course though, two certain people lingered in the back of her mind: a girl she thought she once knew, and a boy she so quickly turned her back on.

* * *

 **I changed the title of chapter 8. And of course, many more questions will be answered as the story progresses forward.**


	10. Chapter 10: Shots Fired

**Alright, another chapter here. Not much else to say, so let's begin.**

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

At around 7:00 AM, Sam Broflovski stirred awake. He groaned as the morning sun shone brightly into his eyes from the left, causing him to turn his body to the right so that he lied down on his right side. He lied there for several minutes until he finally decided it was time to get up and get dressed, so he changed out of his green pajamas into his usual outfit - an orange jacket with a light green collar, dark green pants, light green gloves, and a light green ushanka for his headwear. Grabbing his green backpack that was previously hung on his chair, he slung it over his right shoulder so that he wore only the right strap, walked out the room and shut the door behind himself, and walked downstairs. There he saw his father Kyle, his mother Bebe, and his sister Kailey already dressed for the morning. He glanced around at what they were eating and then groaned inwardly. _Fuck, regular Cheerios again? Seriously?_

"Good morning Sam." Bebe smiled warmly at her son. She took a sip of coffee from her red mug. "Wow, Tweak's coffee tastes better and better, I swear."

As Sam poured himself about a little more than a handful of Cheerios into a yellow bowl and poured 2% milk inside it, Kyle then went off to take the conversation down a path Sam was sure he didn't want to. "So how are you and Cory getting along still?"

A nervous lump formed inside Sam throat. "We're...we're getting along fine. Why? Why'd you ask?"

"Well we heard of what he did at school last week." Kyle shook his head and closed his eyes. He could not possibly fathom how Stan and Wendy could possibly raise Cory to cause the amount of troubles he did over the past week. "I don't know what the hell those two did to raise him, but you're not going to see him anymore."

 _I don't think Cory wants to see me either, but still..._ "Why not?" Sam asked with small amounts of surprise and disappointment.

"Honey, your father and I have talked over this last evening, we think it's for the best." Bebe took another sip of her coffee. "Damn, this is good shit. Anyways, on topic, we don't want you to associate with a trouble maker like him."

 _I guess they're right, I probably don't want to look like a huge dick._ Sam rubbed his chin as he continually nodded. _Ah shit, this is still all my fault though._

"And besides, we think he'll be a bad influence on you," Kyle added. "I mean, look at what he did, he did-"

"Dad. Mom. I know what Cory did. I would just like to move on, please." Sam put both elbows on the table, furrowed his eyebrows, and sighed.

Kailey watched Sam's intense emotion. She had mixed feelings about the entire situation. It was difficult for her to read Sam, despite how much he had helped her with her personal issues, Sam made it hard for himself to open up. Then again, the feelings of guilt isn't typically what one would want to show off publicly to the whole world.

"Look, there's nothing between us that's bad, no bad blood between us, alright? So he made mistakes? So does everyone else, myself included." The last two words trembled off the tips of Sam's lips, bringing back a dread familiarity of the unfolded past events.

"Sam, your dad and I have known Cory's parents for years." Bebe's tone showed surprise and disappointment. "They're good people, but to think that their son did all that, it's just..."

The atmosphere was awfully tense at the breakfast table. Between Kailey's observance, Sam's guilt consuming him slowly, and Kyle's and Bebe's suspicion over Cory, everything eventually culminated into an awkward silence, save the sound of Cheerios being munched. The silence lasted for another ten minutes until the two children were the first ones to finish.

"Sam, I just want to say that I'll get to the bottom of things with the Marshes...eventually, when I get all my other work done." Kyle stood up from his seat and knelt down in front of a standing Sam at eye-level. He let out a soft exhale before continuing on. "In the meantime, I don't want you hanging out with Cory. I don't want to be that one parent, but please Sam, you have to understand that we're worried we're a bad influence on him."

 _Well unfortunately, in reality, it's the exact opposite. But it's probably good they don't know that._ "Yeah, alright dad."

After the two children left the house with their backpacks, they made their way down the bus stop. However, after leaving hearing range of the house, Kailey, walking by Sam's left, punched Sam in his left arm. The force wasn't enough to cause Sam to ache, but it still left Sam a little angry and defensive. "Hey! What the hell was that for?"

"You're a liar, Sam." Kailey glared at her brother as she stopped in her tracks, causing Sam to stop walking as well. "You sounded like you weren't telling the truth."

"You can't prove shit, Kailey, and besides, Cory tried to kick your ass yesterday, had I not stepped in..." Sam continued walking again to burn off the excess energy of being infuriated by his sister.

Kailey followed after her brother. "What if I told mom and dad what's happening at school, huh?"

Sam rolled his eyes and haughtily laughed. "Hah, you can't actually prove anything. And besides, even if you tried, I'll tell mom and dad that you've been sneaking to the school cafeteria for junk food, what are you gonna say about that, huh?"

Kailey hated being in trouble with her parents, and aside from that, Sam was right. She had no way to prove that Sam did anything wrong. Hell, she herself wasn't sure if Sam had been lying about the entire situation with Cory. Sam had a lot more leeway on Kailey than vice versa, another clear sign of Sam's underestimated intelligence being akin of his father's. "Darn it."

When the two reached the bus stop, they both noticed that Kelsey was completely silent while Nikki and Martin were talking amongst themselves. As the two got closer, they began to notice that Kelsey was spaced further away from the Cartmans. Nikki and Kelsey were notoriously considered amongst the school children to be inseparable like superglue, but now this wasn't the case. "Martin, there's a lot of shit I feel that's gonna go down. Just don't get yourself in the middle of it, but keep your eyes and ears open, okay?" Usually, Nikki and Martin harassed each other, but it was odd to Sam to see Nikki offering help to her brother like that.

Before Martin could reply, however, Kelsey cut in. "Oh come on, you're still going on about Cory? How could you feel sorry for him? I thought we both agreed he's nothing but a creep."

"Is it that hard to feel sorry for someone?" Nikki retorted. "You know, someone whose reputation is completely destroyed?"

"Now you're defending Cory? Oh come on." Kelsey rolled her eyes and shuffled further from her best friend.

"Uh, hey guys." Sam waved his right hand in the air.

"Sam!" Nikki ran forward and threw his arms around Sam.

It was accurate to say that Sam completely melted as now he could concentrated on nothing other than Nikki. This, of course, drew snide reactions from Kailey and Martin. "I told you our older siblings would date, Martin." Martin stayed silent, but simply reached into his right pocket to hand two dollars to Kailey.

"Oh, so you two are an item now?" No one responded to Kelsey however.

The couple broke off the hug, but Sam still held Nikki's sides. "Um, what's going on?"

"It's nothing, Kelsey's just being ridiculous." Sam was surprised to hear Nikki say that when Kelsey was in such close vicinity. Then again, Nikki was one of the few girls who didn't favor hiding her honesty.

Kelsey immediately glared at Nikki in anger, her blue eyes showing nothing short of the volatility that was going to come. "Oh I'm being ridiculous? How about when you were all like being so suspicious about John, how you couldn't be happy that we're going out?"

"Oh dear..." Sam immediately let go of Nikki and facepalmed.

Before anyone could say anything else however, the bus came. The bus doors opened to reveal its driver Ms. Crabtree. "ALRIGHT KIDS, GET ON, WE'RE RUNNING LATE!"

While Nikki didn't have the chance to say anything else anymore, she was disgusted that Kelsey still believed that she was dating John, although the more she realized it, the more it seemed like Kelsey is only using John, which is odd, as John got his hands on Kelsey by blackmailing Cory. None of this could make any sorts of logical sense. Then again, she was certain this is what her parents had to deal with back when they were in elementary school, because for whatever reason the kids in South Park act way older than they should be.

* * *

As Sam exited the bus, he caught a glimpse of Cory being pushed by crowds of excited students through the doorway into the school building. Therefore, he sped ahead of Nikki, Kelsey, Kailey, and Martin to try to catch up to Cory. Dodging and pushing his way past dozens of students blocking his path, he went straight into the hall where Cory's locker would normally be, with only one thing on his mind - an apology. As he turned the corner, he witnessed Cory turn around to be at the receiving end of two fourth grade girls spitting on him. Neither of the girls were in Sam's class.

"You're a dickbag," one of the girls snorted. The watching bystanders only snickered to themselves as they watched the two girls slip away, passing Sam without paying any sort of attention to Sam.

Cory was helpless and couldn't do anything. If the girls were boys instead, he'd at least try to shout back at them, but him being even remotely rude to a girl, or any child younger than he, no matter how minor, would basically be treated like a felony at this school. Just yesterday, a few younger children called him a jerk.

Cory was about on the verge of tears again until his right ear perked and saw the one boy he did not wish to see. Wiping the spit off his purple jacket to the best of his ability, he tried as quickly as he could to break eye contact with the Broflovski boy, but Sam was too fast. "Cory! Wait!"

"What?" As Cory stood still, all of the memories of Sam messing with Cory came back into his mind, and it would soon overwhelm him with anger as he struggled to keep his poise.

"Cory, I know you've been through alot, and I know-" Sam started to say.

"No! Fuck you! Fuck off!" Cory stepped towards Sam until he was only inches away. His blue eyes glared heavily into Sam's green eyes, and Sam could already see Cory's eyes going bloodshot from his rising temper. "I fucking hate you! You messed up everything for me, asshole!"

Many students began to gather around to witness the drama that was about to go down. Even Nikki and Kelsey stood from their lockers as they watched from a distance. "Cory, I tried to be nice to you, and I'm sorry that things went the way they did. I just didn't think it'd turn out the way things did."

Cory took a few steps back. He bent his knees slightly and his voice quavered as tears slowly came out of his eyes. He turned to try to run, but seeing the many witnesses blocking all of his possible escape routes, he knew he'd be stuck, knowing that he's going to end up entertaining the others with drama akin to an MTV show. "You're so mean to me! Y-You're always mean to me! You've always messed with me for like - for like years! Just leave me alone, Sam!"

"Cory, let me explain my thought process as well as I can." Sam covered his mouth with his left fist and made two coughs into it to clear his throat. "I just want you to have fun, you know, joke around and stuff. Because let's be honest, you're kind of incredibly boring." As soon as the last five words came out of Sam's mouth, he immediately cringed. "Cory, I didn't mean-"

"Yeah, I'm boring. Okay, well you tried to make things fun, and guess what? All you did is prove you're a fucking douchebag!" The tears and anger came quicker from Cory as the witnesses "oooh'd". "You and your douchebag friends were nothing but shitty to me! The entire fucking year too!"

"Cory, I'm trying to help you, please hear me out, I can fix this!" Sam shook his head. "This isn't right, I mean our parents were friends, we should be too." It was what Sam wanted all along though, to live the experiences and legacy like his parents did, to be able to be with his friends like his parents could, like how Stan and Kyle were best friends, and how Randy Marsh and Gerald Broflovski were best friends.

"So you just want to live the legacy of our dads and granddads, huh?" Cory went to try to slam his locker door shut, but his locker door was already shut however, so he ended up only banging his right palm on his own locker. "Ow!" He shook his right hand due to the impact. "Well you don't have to worry about that anymore!"

"Cory, please-"

"No! It won't work! Ever! I hate you! I hated you and I always did! I never liked having you around because you're an unfunny dick who thinks he's hot shit! Hell, I wouldn't give a shit if you died right now! In fact, just fuck off and die, asshole!" Cory halted his crying and breathed heavily as he watched the other students. He never spoke as much as he did before, and he was never more angry. However, he suddenly realized that not only did he say perhaps the most atrocious insults to Sam (wishing that he committed suicide), but also that there were tons of witnesses. He set his last bridge on fire, and boy did it burn.

Sam was stunned for several seconds. He couldn't bear to hear what Cory had just said, but furthermore, he couldn't bear to realize that he had himself deceived the entire time, so blinded by his ancestors' past that he couldn't see Cory for who he really is. "S-So that's how you truly feel about me, huh? After all these years?" Sam simply let out a sigh, and now it was his turn to shed a few tears. After twenty seconds of uncomfortable silence, Sam finally spoke his next words softly. "I-I'm sorry I wasted your time." There was no other use to sticking around. Sam turned his back to Cory and began to head the other way.

"Sam..." Cory began to cry again, but this time for what he had just said to Sam. Cory, once again, abandoned all logic and reasoning and let his emotions run through him and consume him again, just like usual, and this time, he realized that he just lost his last and only friend, and it would be completely his fault. From here on out, he would be completely on his own. Cory pushed past the various students and speedwalked the other direction, past Nikki and Kelsey, who both stood there in awe.

* * *

During class time, the students were working on more poetry worksheets. Sam could barely concentrate, and usually he did very well at school. But the atrocities that Cory said to Sam earlier before class started stung Sam's heart so deeply it kept him preoccupied for the entire morning period, preventing him from properly listening to Mr. Garrison's useless lectures and doing his schoolwork.

"Sam, I'm so sorry how Cory was such a douche to you just now," Leslie cooed. "That totally wasn't cool."

"It's fine, I'm fine." Sam grumbled. He refused to make eye contact with anyone else in the room and kept his eyes on his worksheet.

"Sam, it's alright, Cory's nothing but a bitter meanie-head," Claire added. "People like him will have nothing but bitterness when they grow older, like they deserve."

"Claire, please shut up, not now." Sam wanted nothing to do with Cory, but he knew that other students weren't going to leave him alone.

"Yeah, Cory's such a freakin' douche for telling you to kill yourself huh?" Sam sat near Clarence Lewis, another classmate.

Sam's blood began to boil with anger, barely tolerating the annoyances of the other students right now. "Clarence, I'm trying to do my work here-"

"Yeah, he's a horrible person, like who does that? Telling people to kill themselves?" Diane Dimmons shook her head in disapproval.

"Don't forget how he's a stalker too, and all the shit he did," George Marlowe added.

"I bet he never touched or even talked to a girl before," Susan Stoley giggled as she checked out her fingernails on her left hand.

"That wouldn't surprise me one bit," Walker Irvington laughed. "Sorry again, Sam."

Sam had enough. All of the students were severely pissing him off right now, so much that he just had a sudden outburst, which is usually rare for him. "ALL OF YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

"Hey! What's going on?!" Mr. Garrison slammed his clipboard down and glared angrily down upon the students.

"Mr. Garrison, these people won't leave me alone!" Sam replied.

"So I heard!" Mr. Garrison then eyed the students who were previously trying to talk to Sam. "Sam is the only one out of all you cluster of idiots there who's trying to do his work! You kids are being nothing but stupid brats and morons to Sam, and to the rest of the other students doing their own work as well! Sit down and do your work before I call you over to the-" However, the morning recess bell run. "Oh Goddamnit! Well, I had it with you little retards! Diane, Claire, Clarence, Leslie, Susan, Walker, and George, you guys are staying here to see me during recess! The rest of you may go!"

Sam was relieved that Mr. Garrison came to his timely aid, and he was pretty certain it would be ugly if he didn't step in. As he slowly calmed down, he went to his locker and went outside to the playground. Waiting for him on the field was John, the rest of their friends nearby. "Hey dude," John greeted.

Sam made a modest wave, devoid of any positive energy. "Hey." His voice was monotone.

"I guess you wouldn't be surprised if I told you I heard everything Cory said to you today, huh?" Sam shook his head to John, so John continued on. "Hey, man, I'm sorry about what happened this morning, and for the things he said."

Sam pointed straight at John. "Listen, I want nothing to do with Cory from now on. Don't even bring him up, don't directly nor indirectly refer to him anymore. Got that?"

"That bad, huh?" John nodded respectfully.

"What a fucking waste of time, all that effort, and what, basically a huge slap in the face." Sam sat down on a nearby bench, and John sat down next to him.

"Hey, don't dwell on it, shit happens, but just move on, alright?" John suggested.

"Yeah. Alright." Sam then looked up at John. "So how's you and Kelsey coming along?"

"She always dodges me, I don't even know what's going on." John shook his head. "Like I bought her chocolates this morning. She said she liked them and took them, but she wouldn't like hang out." John paused for a few seconds before continuing on. "I heard she hates boys."

"Where'd you hear that?" Sam, however, wouldn't be surprised if Kelsey really does hate boys, as she had complained about being objectified before, despite purposefully manipulating others. Then again, he knew how hypocritical Kelsey could be.

"I don't know, just some stupid rumors. I mean she's not that bad right?" John shook his head. "I'm confused."

It was a funny situation that John and Kelsey both landed themselves in. Sam realized that it was entirely possible that they both could end up using each other for their own personal gain, and neither party would notice the other party. "Just keep your eye out on Kelsey, alright?"

"Is there any particular thing about Kelsey I should be worried for?" John asked.

"John, you know how she would kiss other boys to wreck other girls' relationships, right?" Sam replied.

"But then why would she hate boys if she were the one manipulating them?" John scratched his head. "None of this makes sense."

There was naught but silence between the two boys. Neither had much more to say in the conversation. The two just sat there and watched the other children play during recess.

* * *

After Sam finished with his lunch, he briefly parted ways with the rest of his friends to use the restroom. After finishing his business and walking out of the restroom, he found Nikki standing right in front of him. "Woah, were you waiting for me the whole time?"

"What? No." Nikki shook her head, red from embarrassment. "No, I was just using the restroom."

"Yeah." Sam slightly raised the back of his ushanka to scratch his blonde hair. His tone was somewhat quiet, he didn't want to admit how he felt about Nikki. "So...just so we're clear, we're just friends, right? I'm just wondering, I don't wanna be a retard about this."

"Um, sure? I mean if you want to be..." Nikki rubbed her chin with her left hand. "I mean, that hug I gave you earlier today, and when you gave me the flowers, those were just...friendly hugs. You know, as a friend."

"Yeah, sure." Needless to say, however, Sam did enjoy Nikki's company. Both children could feel slight butterflies in their stomach, but somehow still mentally deceived themselves from fully embracing their feelings. "You - you didn't tell your parents anything about the two of us, right?"

"Well, I mean, they know we hang out, but I don't know, I don't know how my dad specifically feels about me dating another guy." Nikki shrugged as she shuffled to Sam's right. They both went over to lean against a nearby locker. "Especially since it's you of all people, I mean, you know how our dads used to fight all the time and shit."

Sam blinked twice in confusion. "Wait, I thought we're not going out, we're only ten."

"We're not, it's just that, you know, it's amazing how someone like you would ask me out to the dance, like I thought that, you know, thought no one would notice me because everyone's too focused on Kelsey, and I keep thinking I'm still fat."

Sam understood every fifth word that came out of Nikki's mouth, which in other words, he was left dumbstruck. He didn't want Nikki to feel bad about her own self image. On the other hand, he wasn't sure how to compliment her, this experience was entirely new to him. "Um...you're hot?" Realizing what he just said, he inwardly kicked himself in the balls as he looked to the left and down towards the floor, trying to avoid eye contact with the brown-eyed girl due to his shyness of the situation. _Damnit, why did I say that?_

Nikki blushed, her cheeks reddening. She held the collar of her gray jacket to her chin, trying to cover her mouth that showed an embarrassed smile. "Thanks, so um, changing subjects, I heard what Cory said to you earlier this morning."

Sam looked back at Nikki, and this time only showed a concerned frown. "Thanks. It's just...it's just..."

"A waste of time how you tried to be nice to Cory for all those years?" Nikki finished. Although Nikki questioned Sam's methods, she couldn't deny that Sam at least made his best attempt at friendship.

"Yeah. That." Sam shook his head. "I really can't talk about him anymore. I don't want to. It's obvious he never wanted me around, I mean, you heard it all, right? So I guess I shouldn't have anything to do with him either. Whatever he does now, good luck to him I guess, but no, I'm not having any of his shit anymore."

Unfortunately for Nikki, Sam was right and wrong at the same time. She understood that Cory was very likely a pain in the ass to work with. She knew that Sam had every right to be angry. On the other hand, she also knew that Cory would be heading down a certain path, one too familiar to her. Ultimately, however, there was nothing she could really do at the moment. "I'm sorry, Sam. Do you - do you need anything from me?"

"I'm fine." Sam looked to his right at Nikki again. "I'm sure. I don't have much else to talk about."

"I'm chill with sitting here silently, if that's not too awkward for you." Nikki slid her body downwards until her butt touched the ground, then sat down.

"I'm down with that." Sam also sat down alongside her. "I mean, it's only awkward if you make it awkward."

"Sam, that is definitely something I would have said, you poser." Nikki punched Sam's right shoulder very lightly.

"When do we even buy dance tickets, anyways?" Sam asked.

"Like the week of the dance," Nikki replied.

"Oh cool, so am I supposed to buy your dance ticket or something?" Sam asked. "I mean, I thought that's what all guys are supposed to do for girls. I'm not sure, I've never actually done this before."

"That's really your train of thought for buying my ticket? Not because you oh-so care so much about me? Not because you love me?" Nikki fluttered her eyelashes at Sam.

Sam was taken aback as he grimaced slightly. "Love you? I thought we were just going. As friends. That's what you said." His heart skipped a beat as he gazed upon Nikki.

"Yeah, right, but..." Nikki looked away as her cheeks still burned with embarrassment. "Goddamnit. I mean, we're just ten. I mean, not everyone is Cory's parents. I know you don't want to hear that name, but I'm just using his parents as an example."

"Haha, I get it, they went out when they were eight." Sam then snapped his left fingers as he remembered something about his own parents. "My parents first kissed when they were eight. It was some Truth or Dare game. It was really weird."

"I can only imagine." However, the bell rung, and Nikki groaned. "The fuck? Recess is over already?"

The sounds of children walking echoed through the halls. "Then we can stay here for a bit longer, honestly. Wanna be late to class?" Sam knew it was tempting to be late, and he'd probably be yelled at by Mr. Garrison. Not only that, but the sigh of him and Nikki walking in together - late - would send implications to his classmates minds, despite the fact they really were only planning on sitting silently for a bit longer.

However, Nikki didn't care about the implications they'd implant. "Sure. I don't mind."

* * *

The Broflovskis were having tacos for dinner, consisting of ground beef, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, white onions, and sour cream inside hard shells of corn. "So Sam, we heard that the dance is coming up soon," Bebe said.

"Um..." Sam shook his head. The last thing any kid needed was their parents to barge into their love lives, and Sam was certainly no exception.

"Have you found your date yet?" Bebe asked. "If so, how is she? Who is she?"

"Mom, I don't have a date yet," Sam lied.

"Hope it's not the Cartmans' daughter, Nikki, Eric would probably kill me." Despite Kyle obviously making a joke, that didn't make Sam feel any better.

"Well, Sam, no matter who you choose, just know that love is like a game," Bebe replied. "For guys, especially. Take it from me, you have to be brave enough so you project enough confidence, but you can't seem too eager or else you'll come off as creepy. Girls can be very pretentious sometimes. Except Nikki, Eric will probably kill Kyle."

Kyle narrowed his eyebrows at his wife. "Babe, I don't think we should be teaching Sam how to manipulate girls."

"What? Shush, Kyle, I'm not teaching Sam that." Bebe then turned back to Sam. "It's like Truth or Dare. You have to be cool so you get their attention, but you can't be too eager."

Sam found it rather funny that his mother brought up Truth or Dare as an example. Nonetheless, Sam was rather annoyed. "Mom. I'm fine. Really. I just want to go upstairs, get some homework done."

Kyle nodded. "Sure. You may go."

After about fifteen minutes of finishing up homework and another fifteen minutes of doing absolutely nothing, Kailey then barged into Sam's room. "Hello."

"Are you still mad at me about earlier?" Sam didn't notice any foul mood off of Kailey.

"No, but I heard about what Cory said to you." Kailey then sat down on Sam's bed next to him. "Is it all true? Are you really going to kill yourself? Please don't do it, Sammy."

"What? No! Of course I'm not going to kill myself, what?" Sam shook his head. "He was just using it as an insult, and to be honest, it's probably best you stay away from Cory. And I don't want to talk about him anymore."

"I would go away from him too, after what he just said," Kailey replied. After a few moments of awkward silence, Kailey then followed up with the last question Sam wanted to hear. "So do you love Nikki?"

Sam immediately blushed. "I...uh...um..." Of course though, he was too dumbstruck to answer, and Kailey already knew.

"She's really pretty," Kailey said.

"Yeah," Sam agreed.

"Why did you lie to mom and dad earlier during dinner?" Kailey asked.

"Because, Kailey, I don't know this, but our dad and Nikki's dad go way back." Sam lied down on his bed, his legs hanging limp off the edge. "They used to hate each other. Her dad would make fun of mine for being Jewish. My dad would make fun of hers for being fat. Her dad was pretty obese back then. Not so much anymore, I'm sure you could tell."

"I knew they didn't like each other, but that's messed up," Kailey replied. "I wonder how they feel about me being friends with Martin."

Sam shook his head. "Oh, they probably wouldn't care less, no offense. But you know, some dads are just weird about their daughters hanging around with other boys. It's...complicated." Sam knew the answer and knew why some fathers are overprotective of their daughters, but Kailey was simply not old nor mature enough to learn the full detail. "I just have a feeling that Nikki's dad is the same way. Plus, I don't know if our dads still hold a grudge. They say they don't, but I've been lied to by so many people so many times, I don't even know anymore."

"You just wan to be on the safe side," Kailey concluded.

"Yes," Sam replied. "Now you understand?"

"Yeah." Kailey stood up and began to walk out. "Thanks for the talk, Sammy. And good luck with Nikki."

"Thanks." Sam then rolled over to his pillow and breathed heavily into it. "Why is everyone so frickin' weird?"

* * *

 **I don't know when PC Principal might come back. I'm debating on it, I'm debating not. I'm not sure as that has just crossed my mind just now. Also wasn't aware I was a bit too formal. I double checked now, just to make sure that that wouldn't be the case, hopefully. Anyways, hopefully you guys enjoyed this, see you next time, guys.**


	11. Chapter 11: The Last of Us

**Hey guys, here's another chapter. Enjoy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

Cory rose from his bed with a small headache. Letting out a soft, tired groan, he slowly got changed into his purple jacket with blue pants and green gloves, then came downstairs, dragging along is black backpack with his left hand. As he brought his backpack into the kitchen, he saw his parents Stan and Wendy sitting at the table snuggling up to each other. Stan was only wearing a white undershirt and blue basketball shorts while Wendy was wearing a black tank top and short black shirts. The fact that Wendy was leaning up against Stan, who had his face in her hair, told Cory what the two of them did earlier. Normally Cory would be disgusted, wishing he could gouge his own eyes out from the visions of what they'd privately done, but today, Cory was too tired to care. The events throughout the past two weeks made him so sick that what he witnessed now was rather tame compared to the atrocities he experienced firsthand.

Wendy broke off from Stan as she saw her son come in to pour himself regular Cheerios and milk into a pink bowl then sit down. "Hey."

"Hi." Cory said nothing else as he leaned against his left hand, his left elbow on the table. He crunched on his Cheerios slowly.

"Is everything alright?" Stan asked.

"Yeah," Cory replied.

Both parents knew, however, that Cory wasn't telling the full story. "Are you sure?" Wendy asked. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, everything's good." Cory still refused to make eye contact with either of his parents.

"Cory, please tell us what's going on," Wendy tried again.

"Mom, I'm fine, leave me alone." Cory tried to be as forceful as possible, but not enough. Nonetheless, it was clear that Cory wanted nothing to do with anything any longer. "I'm gonna be late. I gotta go." Cory slung his black backpack around his shoulder, put on his shoes, then walked out the door.

Wendy put her left elbow on her table, and leaned her head on her left hand. She sighed deeply. "I don't get it, does Cory really not like us? Stan, what are we doing wrong?"

"I don't know, I'm worried too." Stan also sighed as well. "I mean, there has to be something going wrong that he won't share with us."

"It just worries me everyday, I can't even imagine what's going on, or why he did all the pranks and stuff." Wendy had to think long and hard for this. "Is he afraid of us?"

"Maybe we might be too angry at him when he's angry." That was Stan's best guess, but he didn't know the true answer either.

Wendy opened her mouth to try to counter Stan, but the more she thought about it, the more Stan was right. But still, that wouldn't make complete sense why Cory would possibly be afraid of them as they rarely got that angry at him. "I don't know."

Despite being in complete agreement with each other, Stan and Wendy still found themselves in a tense situation. Of course, when it came down to their own children, any parent would worry the hell out of their own child who was very likely not having a good experience at school, and the Marshes were no exception. "We should probably get dressed for work," Stan reminded.

"Yeah, good point."

Outside, Cory was in front of the house next to his own, to the left "My parents are so fuckin' annoying, why do they always have to bug me for this shit?" Cory grumbled.

However, Cory was so lost in his train of thought that he didn't acknowledge the two people who approached him from behind. One of them was a boy his age, nearly bald with a red hooded jacket and brown pants. The girl was about Kailey's and Martin's age, with a blue jacket and white pants. "Is everything alright?" the boy said.

"Ah!" Cory jumped to see who spoke. Then he sighed. "Oh, it's just you, Charlie Brown." Charlie Brown lived next door to Cory, but neither really talk to one another. "That's your sister?"

"Sally," Charlie replied. "Why do you find your parents annoying?"

Cory was debating on telling Charlie off, but the last thing he needed was to piss another person off. Therefore, he sighed - again. "They always try to barge in on my crap. Like seriously, can't they just screw off for once?"

"Cory, that's not right, I'm jealous of you having both your parents together. You should treat them with respect." Sally nodded as Charlie spoke his piece.

"Oh, right, yeah." Cory knew the full story of Charlie's father, Charles Brown. "Isn't your dad the school counselor for the South Park High School?"

"Yeah, but then my mom and dad divorced. My dad's too obsessed over his job, and they kind of fell out. So here we are, living with my mom. Our dad's paying child support, like most other broken families in our grade. You should be lucky that your parents are still together, and they seem happy too." Charlie gave Cory a disapproving frown. "So it's high time you show respect, got that?"

"Man, why does everyone have to steer everything to turn me into the bad guy?" Cory complained.

Before Charlie or Sally could answer, the school bus stopped right in front of Charlie's house. The doors swung open, revealing Ms. Crabtree. "SHUT UP AND GET ON, YOU RASCALS!"

"Come on, let's go," Charlie said.

Sally and Cory followed Charlie onto the bus. Charlie and Sally took one of the seats on the right midway between the front and the back. Cory sat directly one row in front of the Browns. After twenty seconds, the bus doors closed and the bus moved forward.

"Hey, weren't you the guy who pushed that one blonde girl down?" Sally asked.

"So you used to be friends with John Donovan and Samuel Broflovski," Charlie said. "So how'd that work out for you."

"Both of you, shut up." Cory was losing his patience with Charlie. Before, he was sure that Charlie had to be a nice guy, because he seemed to be respectful of elders and very diligent in his work. But so far, Charlie was nothing but patronizing and smug.

"Well I was just wondering because I just want to point out that Samuel and Nicole Cartman are going to the dance together."

Cory almost fell forward. He was pretty certain that neither Sam's nor Nikki's parents would allow them with each other. After all, their fathers hated each other when they were younger. Also, because Cory found Nikki pretty. "Oh great, so that dickbag gets the hot girl while I'm stuck burning in hell or something. Funny, it's just gonna be like that one horror story Romeo and Juliet."

"Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy, not horror," Charlie countered.

"Oh come on, you don't have to be that guy. A know-it-all." Cory rolled his eyes.

"Well I just enjoy reading." Charlie cleared his throat. "Have you ever read _War and Peace_? I wrote about it for the book report we did a month back."

Cory shook his head. "Oh come on, there was no way you read all that in a week AND did a book report on it too, you had to use SparkNotes, or went to Wikipedia, or something."

The bus stopped and the bus door opened. "ALRIGHT, SHUT UP AND GET ON!" No more than a second after the words left Ms. Crabtree's mouth, Sam, Nikki, Kelsey, Kailey, and Martin got on the bus. All five of them went past Cory towards the back of the bus without making any eye contact with Cory. Then the bus doors closed and the bus drove on.

Cory took their lack of notice as an offense. "Oh Goddamnit."

Charlie leaned closer to Cory. "Look, they're nothing but mean to you, and you're right about them. They're jerks. And besides, why do you have a crush on Kelsey anyways?"

"Well, besides that she's really hot, I don't know." There was a reason why he couldn't tell anyone the truth, not even his parents or Charlie, and he was well aware of it all. He knew of his parents being the most popular kids at school. Both had always been popular, with many friends since elementary school. Main quarterback and head cheerleader having a child young, then marrying each other years later was quite cliché, yet it still worked. Cory was as young as six years old when he was first bullied, and it wasn't a consistent group of kids bullying him - the entire class ganged up on him for being too emotional and crying the most out of any boy in the class, and typically it wasn't okay for any boy to cry. Add onto the fact of his parents' legacies, he felt like nothing but disappointment. Thus, he desperately seeked popularity and validation from his peers by doing John Donovan's dares and trying to impress Kelsey McCormick because he desperately wanted to show his parents that he could be sociable and popular like they were.

Also, he knew that as strong and agile as John Donovan is, what got to Cory the most was John's sheer intelligence. He single-handedly managed to (once again) rally the entire fourth grade class against Cory (this wasn't the first time this happened to Cory either). Cory was pretty certain that if he ratted John out, it would not end well for him. Nevertheless, it was a bad situation for Cory to be in now, and while Cory had been hated on before, the things he did to try to seek companionship and love from others only backfired horribly on him, and gave him the exact opposite of what he wished for.

Charlie drove him out of his daydream. "Okay, but what do you know about her?"

"I don't know much," Cory admitted.

"So you just stare at and stalk her all day because she's pretty?" Charlie wondered. Cory silently nodded. "I'll never understand the merits of males' attraction to females."

"I'm still thinking." Cory wasn't sure of what else to say. He felt uneasy and a little defensive whenever Kelsey was brought up, and Charlie's voice sent shivers down his spine.

"Well you're clearly not thinking with your head," Charlie retorted.

"Okay, shut up." Cory knew exactly what Charlie was implying, but he still believed he was using his head the whole time. "It's not like that at all, Charlie."

Charlie glanced at his sister, as if telling her to do exactly what he is doing, and not what Cory is doing. Sally completely understood the glance. "You're being too emotional about everything, and you're overly defensive" Charlie reminded. "That is why no one likes you."

"You don't know about anything about friends!" Cory turned around to angrily glare at the Browns. "And I'm not overly defensive!" Cory felt the bus stop again. He looked out the window to find himself at school. "Oh, finally!" Usually, Cory dreaded going to school and would get out of the bus without much energy at all, but right now, he just wanted to be as far away from Charlie Brown as possible, and thus wasted no time jumping out of his seat and rushing off the bus.

Cory speedwalked into the school building, narrowly avoiding the rush of students blocking and pushing each other as he flowed into the building with perfect cohesion with the rest of the rush, like a dancer suddenly going in sync with the rest of his group. When he finally got to his locker, he opened it up and put his backpack inside. As he shut the door and turned around, he saw someone standing behind him, like usual. "Ah!" Taking a closer look, he then realized it was Charlie Brown alone. "Oh. It's just you."

Charlie stuck his left hand out to halt Cory from escaping. "Hey, wait. I was a bit rude back there, and I didn't mean to imply you as a pervert or anything."

Cory cringed and slightly turned his head away. He hated being called that, and furthermore, he was raised not to be one. "Just...just shut up about that."

"You know, if you studied a bit more, you could be getting straight A's."

Cory opened his eyes and looked straight at Charlie. "How the hell do you know my grades?"

"I took a peak at everyone's grades while being tutored by Mr. Garrison some time ago," Charlie admitted. "I mean, B's, and C's? Come on."

Charlie was acting exactly like his parents. He was saying what Wendy and Stan repeatedly scolded him. "Okay, seriously, shut up Charlie. My grades aren't that bad. And you aren't my parents, and I hate school anyways."

"What? School is fun. It's fun to learn new things and play with the people." Charlie stiffed a laugh as he continued on. "Why don't you want to go to school?"

"Why do you want to go to school?" Cory rolled his eyes. He rubbed his chin for a second as he though up his next words. "The schoolwork is dumb and too much, the teachers are obnoxious, Mr. Mackey is an even shittier counselor than PC Counselor ever was, he's super biased and backwards. Well I guess same could be said about PC. And the kids here are bitches and douchebags."

"Have you ever considered that if you have a problem with everyone, maybe you are the problem?" Charlie sounded a lot like Cory's dad Stan right now, and Cory hated the similarities.

"You act like everyone else can do nothing wrong," Cory retorted.

"Okay, let me ask you this." Charlie paused for fifteen seconds. Cory tapped his left foot repeatedly and impatiently during the pause time, much to Charlie's annoyance. "What do you want to get out of school? Like yeah, I get it, we all have to go to school, it's the law. But for you, what do you want to learn, what do you want to have happen to make school more of a bearable experience for you?"

"If it were up to me..." Cory closed his mouth and bit his tongue. He wasn't sure if Charlie would like hearing what Cory had to say next, but it wasn't like lying and deceit ever got Cory anywhere, and the past events were surely a testament to that. "...I'd form a group of people just like me. Rejects. We'd all join up, join forces, we rule the school. I'd make sure no one would fuck with us again."

"So you'd just get a group of rejects just to try to be above everyone else? That's shallow. You're that jealous of everyone else?"

Cory rolled his eyes. The idiotic cheap knockoff offspring from a parent of the same name didn't get it. "Compared to who? Not even Nikki is exactly the bastion of all goodness. And besides, you're not even that well liked either, nerd." Then the bell rang, and for once, Cory was glad that class would be starting. "Oh perfect."

* * *

When the morning recess bell rang, Cory was busy cleaning up his locker. After he was done sorting out his locker, with a pile of crumpled papers in his hands, he used his left shoulder to close his locker. As he went over to a nearby trash can to throw out the old papers, Charlie came up to Cory again. "Oh hey. I see you're a bit busy there?"

"Yes." Cory did not make eye contact with Charlie as he finished up with throwing out the old papers. "What do you want?"

"Me and my friends, we're going to play Dungeons and Dragons during this recess in the library." Charlie stuck out his right thumb and used it to point behind himself. "If that's alright with you. I know you're not well liked and you're having a tough time fitting in, but I can _try_ to convince my friends to let you in. I can _try_. Doesn't mean it's guaranteed. What do you say?"

"I didn't know the library was open during recess," Cory replied.

"It's always been open every recess, for as long as I can remember," Charlie countered. "Not many people know that, actually."

Cory thought hard about it, giving off another one of his sighs. On one hand, he could try to get another group of friends. Although he wasn't exactly fond of nerdy activities like Dungeons and Dragons, at this point he wasn't exactly in a position to turn them down. He was fairly certain that he is even lower on the fourth grade social hierarchy than any stereotypical nerd that could be mentioned. In fact, after the past few weeks, he was pretty sure he was on the very bottom - although this wouldn't be the first time. On the other hand, he was very well afraid to be rejected again. He feared rejection, and the way Sam left him yesterday shattered him. He needed friendship, yet he was afraid of the possibility of rejection. "Alright. I'll try it."

"Alright!" Charlie jumped up in excitement.

"But no bullshit, okay?" Cory warned.

Charlie did not respond, he just made his way to the library, with Cory closely on his tail. When the two entered the library, Cory took in his surroundings. The Librarian was reading _Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Part 1_ , her feet on her desk. There were a few first graders and second graders reading various books on the chairs off to the side walls. In the middle of the library were a few tables Cory would use whenever he served detention. Charlie pointed to one of the tables. "There they are." There was a boy and a girl sitting at the table, both in fourth grade. The boy is black, with short black hair, a light blue jacket with a red collar, red gloves, and navy blue pants. The girl had long brown hair, a lavender jacket with a white collar, white gloves, and black pants. And on the table was a board, various dies each with different numbers of sides, three hard-cover books, some cards, and sheets of paper. "Luke! Kristen!"

Cory knew of Luke Davis and Kristen Stoley. They, along with Charlie Brown, made the stereotypical nerd trio he would see on Disney sitcoms and the like, who had personalities and talents such that in reality, they would actually be the most popular kids in school. Of course though, here, they aren't that popular because they aren't literally the morally worst people. Despite that, Cory was sure those two wouldn't be fond of him.

"Hey!" Luke smiled as he greeted Charlie, but when his eyes shifted over to Cory, the smile faded as quickly as it came.

"Charlie, what's is _he_ doing here?" Kristen, too, wasn't exactly fond of Cory's presence.

"He's here to play Dungeons and Dragons with us, is that alright?" Charlie asked.

"What?" Luke made a few light chuckles. "Do you even know how to play Dungeons and Dragons?"

"No, can you teach me?" Cory asked.

"Well no, because it takes too much time and we don't have much time, so you need to leave," Kristen retorted.

"Nothing personal, kid," Luke added.

Charlie turned to Cory. "Well I guess that's it. Sorry."

"It's fine." Cory turned his back and began to walk out the door. "I liked being alone better, I guess." With a last sigh, he made his way out of the library. It wasn't the first time he was rejected, and he was very certain it wouldn't be the last. Nevertheless, it still pained him to (once again) realize that he was unwanted, told to his face that he was nothing. And speaking of faces, he was also certain that Luke and Kristen were as two-faced as the rest of the fourth grade crowd, and he saw them help others understand how to play Dungeons and Dragons before. Perhaps his ability to see through others' facades was a talent passed down from his mother Wendy. Not like he had ever put any of Wendy's inherited traits to any good use however.

* * *

During lunchtime, Cory sat down alone. He looked down at his tray full of lasagna and broccoli. Chef generally made very delicious food, and despite today's lasagna being well liked, Cory wasn't hungry today. The table in front of him was Charlie, Luke, and Kristen with their backs turned towards Cory, and sitting across the former three were three ugly fourth graders. One boy's head was rather abnormally short. A girl wore glasses, each lens's radius equaled to the radius of a regular orange from a grocery store. And another girl was blonde and fat, fatter than Eric Cartman ever was. Of course though, even the ugly kids had a social circle.

Cory didn't.

Cory looked to the right to see Sam and Nikki sharing a table alone, sitting across from each other. The whole cafeteria was far too loud for Cory to make out what the couple was saying, but their facial expressions consisting of happiness told Cory that they were far too indulged in each other. In Cory's mind, it wasn't fair that Sam is the one who gets the girl in the end, but he was certain the relationship wouldn't last, because either their fathers Kyle and Eric would end it, or some other drama concerning them would happen. "That asshole will get what's coming to him eventually." But it was just a painful reminder that even the dorkiest of nerds and the ugliest of kids were still higher on the social circle than Cory.

When Cory was finished eating, he went over to use the restrooms first. After he was done, he stormed out of the restrooms only to feel someone step on his left foot, causing him to help an "ow!" He saw a whirl of red zip by his line of sight towards his right, and so when he turned his head right, he saw Charlie Brown on the floor gripping his right leg in pain. Then it just occurred to Cory that he accidentally tripped Charlie. "Oh my gosh, what happened?"

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Charlie was in too much pain from the fall.

"I'm sorry!" Cory's eyes crept down to where Charlie gripped his right leg. He rolled Charlie onto his back then lifted the right pants to see a large bleeding scrape just below his knee. "Oh shit!"

"They tried to wedgie me...onto the flagpole...again."

Cory knew who Charlie was referring to. It was at that moment that Cory regained his sense and empathy. "Alright, well, you're not going back outside with a leg like that. Just be glad you didn't break your knees or something."

"Wait, what are you gonna do?" Charlie asked.

"Getting you help. Come on." Cory lifted Charlie up and carried him on his right shoulder, Charlie's left arm around Cory. Cory slowly walked to the nurse's office. "So you wanna tell me what went on? What did you do?"

"Nothing! I did nothing." Cory was sure that Charlie wasn't telling the truth. Charlie must have really annoyed someone, and given how much Charlie acted like a know-it-all to Cory, he wouldn't be surprised if that was the reason Charlie was going to get wedgied. That said, he couldn't leave someone bleeding on the ground, despite how non-lethal it would be.

"Sure." Charlie detected a hint of sarcasm in Cory's voice, but he had nothing to respond with. When Cory and Charlie reached the nurses office, the first thing he noticed is that the lights were still on. Cory tried to open the door but it was locked. "Fuck."

"Well now what?" Charlie asked.

"I'm not gonna sit here and let that scrape fester or get infected or something. Hold on. I know what to do." Cory noticed that (like usual), the window on the door that said "NURSE" wasn't quite closed correctly. The nurse preferred to let the outside air in, but always forgot to close the window on the door, so Cory lifted open the window and put his left arm through the empty windowsill.

"Cory, what are you doing? We're gonna be in big trouble!"

"I'm helping you, shush." Cory managed to get the door unlocked from the inside. He then got his left arm out of the windowsill to open the door with his left hand. When they got inside, Cory closed the door put Charlie down on the bed. He lifted the right pants.

"Dude, if they see us, we're gonna be in so much trouble! I'm not going to get the perfect student award this year!" Cory knew that Charlie got that award every year. He also knew it meant nothing but another petty self-image trophy.

"That's what you care about? Stop being a nerd." Cory took out from the cabinets a large bandage, two cotton balls, and bottle medical alcohol. _This guy is actually so fucking weird._ "Now hold still." He rinsed one of the cotton balls with water from a nearby sink, then began to pad it down on Charlie's scrape to suck up the access blood."

"Ow, ow, ow." Charlie's voice was quiet, but he still maintained composure.

Cory disposed of the first cotton ball. He then poured a fair amount of the rubbing alcohol in the second cotton ball, not completely soaked. "Now hold still, this will sting."

"What are you - ow!" When the cotton ball made contact with Charlie's leg, the sting of alcohol onto an open wound made him scream loudly enough to attract Kelsey's attention from the outside, despite the door being closed.

Unfortunately for the boys, the window was clearly see-through, so Kelsey walked up to the closed door to peer through the window, just in time to watch Cory's medical skills in action. "What the hell..." Kelsey had good enough hearing to be able to make out what was going to be said next from the inside.

"Charlie, shut up! Like you said, you don't want them to hear us, right?" Cory let out a groan as he dabbed the cotton ball more.

"What are you doing, Cory? Stop it!"

Cory ignored Charlie however. "I have to do this. You don't want the scrape to get infected or something. This will kill off the germs."

"Just stop," Charlie managed to mutter.

"Fine." Cory threw out the cotton ball into the trash. He them immediately went on to peel the protected covers from the large bandage and put it over Charlie's scrape to cover it. "There. You good?"

Kelsey was still watching from the outside, not sure what to think of Cory. Surely, Cory didn't know it at the time, but Kelsey was sure that what Cory did just now, no other student their age would have done. In her mind, she admitted that even she herself would have done something stupid like try to cover the scrape with a dirty T-shirt or something, or just left it alone and tried to toughen it out. Of course though, she heard a voice behind her, making her jump. "Kelsey, what are you doing?"

Kelsey turned around. "Mr. Mackey, I..."

"What the hell is going on?" Mr. Mackey saw what Kelsey was watching. He then opened the door. "What the hell is going on?!"

Cory and Charlie, startled, turned around in shock to see an angry Mr. Mackey standing in the doorway, with Kelsey behind him and off to his right side, being clearly in line of sight of the two boys. Seeing Kelsey stand there painted the picture in Cory's mind that Kelsey must have found him and snitched on him. But he couldn't be angry, after what he did to Kelsey, he felt like he deserved it. It was unfortunate how Kelsey never meant to rat Cory out but ended doing just that anyways.

It took a few moments before Mr. Mackey truly realized what had happened. "Why did you break into the nurse's office?!"

"I...uh..." Charlie and Cory both immediately panicked, resorting to only stuttering in their speech. Their heartbeats quickened and sweat pour out of their pores due to the impending berating they're about to receive.

"You two in my office NOW!"

There were two chairs set up for Cory and Charlie already in front of Mackey's desk so they sat down on the chairs while Mr. Mackey sat down at his desk. "Now breaking into the nurse's office is bad, 'mkay? I shouldn't have to explain why, but it's bad because it teaches you to break into places like the police station to steal things, 'mkay?" As per usual, Mr. Mackey's speeches made no sense whatsoever. But it's not like it would be wise to laugh at Mr. Mackey. "Now why did you do it?!"

"Charlie was hurt, his leg was scraped and bleeding," Cory explained.

"I don't care, you never break into someone else's office, how would you like it if someone broke into your locker, 'mkay?" Mr. Mackey got out a stack of files and read them for a minute. He then looked up at the two boys. "As Cory is already serving detention this week, I'll not do anything to him." He shifted his gaze from Cory onto Charlie. "You, Charlie, are serving detention today."

Charlie immediately panicked "What? That's not right! You can't do this to me!"

"No 'buts'! Now get out of my office!" Mr. Mackey threw both boys out.

Cory dusted off his clothing as he stood up straight. "Well, that could have certainly been worse for the two of us. I honestly thought we were gonna get suspended or-"

"I hate you!" Charlie pointed straight at Cory. "You got me detention. Now I'll never get my perfect student award this year!"

"Charlie, wait." But Charlie instead quickly walked away. Cory let out a sigh. "See you in detention, I guess."

* * *

It was Cory's final day in detention. Detention is held in the library, with Mr. Mackey overseeing it. A few other kids not Cory's age also served detention as well. Mr. Mackey stood front and center at the chalkboard. "Okay, you kids are in detention until 5 PM. Use this time wisely to study and do your homework."

Cory looked around. He couldn't find Charlie anywhere. _Did Charlie skip out on detention? That would be completely not like him._ No matter what though, Cory continued to do his homework during detention, never talking to anyone else.

When Cory finally exited the school at 5:10 PM, his black backpack over his shoulder, he went towards his home. When his house was in line of sight, he heard a voice behind him. "Hey! You!" He turned around to see an angry Charlie.

 _Aw shit._ "Where were you?" Cory asked.

"I was in detention!" Charlie yelled.

"Well I didn't see you, and why are you so mad?" Cory clamped his mouth shut. He was sure that he insulted Charlie just now, even if he didn't mean it.

"I was in the back, but that's not important. What's important is that I will never get my perfect student award now, because of you!" Charlie's eyes bulged and veined up, his brown orbs glaring down onto Cory's blue ones.

"I fixed up your leg for you, but I guess I should have just let it get infected, I mean that's what you care about, right?" Cory replied.

"Now I know the type of person you are, you only help others to make yourself look good," Charlie screeched. "I mean, why else would Kelsey watch us? So you can show off your medical skills to her?"

"What? I didn't even know Kelsey was watching us! And why would I coordinate anything with her? She hates me!" Once again, Cory was met with false accusations, and it wouldn't be the end of it.

"All the more reason to try to impress her, right?" Charlie came closer to Cory until they were face-to-face.

"Look." Cory took a few steps back. "Talking about obsessions, you're always obsessed with that perfect student award. It means nothing. You're just a stupid nerd for thinking it means something. Just shows how much you'll try to suck the dicks of the school administration."

Charlie was sick of it all and just wanted to end it. "Just go away. I'm sick of looking at you. I felt sorry for you because you had no friends, but now I know why you have no friends. You're just a miserable creep. You'll never amount to anything, and I hope you never do." Charlie quickly walked to his home. He opened the front door, and without another word, without a look back at Cory, slammed it shut. But in the end, Charlie was ultimately right. Within the past two weeks, everything had come crashing down onto Cory. And now, no one would side with Cory. He had no one.

Stan and Wendy didn't come home until 10 PM, so Cory already ate alone. When Stan and Wendy opened the door, Cory was in his room wearing his blue pajamas and lying down on his bed. "So how was detention?" Wendy's tone showed a ton of passive aggressiveness.

"It was wonderful," Cory replied. Cory shifted onto his left side so that he was facing the window and away from his parents.

"Are you still going to tell us what's been going on with you?" Stan's tone sounded a lot kinder than Wendy's but still showed some anger.

"I'll save it for next week's Confession," Cory replied.

Stan and Wendy both looked at each other and shook their heads. It was already late, and both were too tired to have another argument today. "Alright, well good night," Wendy said.

Cory didn't reply, so Stan and Wendy shut the door and walked away without saying another word. Cory got up and looked around. He saw the Bible planted firmly on his desk. "Fuck everything. It's not fair." He pushed the Bible off his desk onto the floor He then slipped underneath his blanket, and held his pillow to his chest to cry into it. "I hate this school. I hate this town. I hate everything." As he continued to weep, he was still sure that more was still to come in the final two weeks of school, and this time, no one would be at his side.

* * *

 **In my original SPANG, there were two kids who were in Cory's class named Luke and Kristen. They got moved off. Also, John and Cory at one point were supposed to be twins (with Cory having brown hair), and Nikki didn't have her nickname (was simply referred to as Nicole).**


	12. Chapter 12: Cow Daze

**Before I continue on with this story, I want to address a review first.**

 **BinTherFeltThat: Glad to see what you thought about this story, and I'm also sorry for what happened to you back in your past. I didn't mean to offend anyone with this story, I was just trying to make it seem as realistic as possible while still trying having some possible room for zaniness (for it is South Park after all). I also knew of people who went through your experience, as well as people who have bullied others before, so this story has a lot of personal anecdotes. Also, not to make excuses, but for me it's fairly difficult to get the emotions right while also progressing the plot in the way I want to. Can't spoil the ending, but it will be good, trust me.**

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

Today was Saturday, which is also the day of South Park's 66th Annual Cow Days Festival. People from all around town, as well as some visitors from nearby Colorado towns and cities, such as Middle Park, North Park, and even Denver, came to attend the fair. Tents and structures of tarp were erected in the wake of the people to serve mostly as a cheap form of entertainment such as shooting and throwing games, rides such as roller coasters and a giant Ferris wheel, a drop tower, and several places to eat.

Stan and Wendy took their son Cory along with them to the fair. After sitting half an hour through a long line and paying their way to the entrance, Wendy reached into her purse and wallet within to give her son Cory sixty dollars. "Be back at the front by four. Got it?"

"And stay safe," Stan added.

Cory slowly nodded. "Yeah. Alright." Afterwards, Cory walked off towards the ferris wheel.

Wendy faced Stan. "Alright, well my coworkers are here as well, I should probably go talk to them. Guess I'll be seeing you at lunch?"

"Of course." Just as the words left Stan's mouth, Wendy leaned her head into Stan's for a kiss in his lips. At that moment, Stan could feel nothing but the taste of Wendy's sweet lips and his heart forming butterflies. The feeling still persisted after the two lips parted. "See ya."

"Bye." With a wave of goodbye, Wendy turned to walk away.

Stan turned around to see a certain friend in his face. The blonde McCormick man simply nodded at Stan's presence, his facial structure revealing that he's exactly the same age as Stan. "Woah. Didn't see you there, Kenny."

"'Sup, Stan?" Kenny offered out his right hand as he gazed upon the slightly more muscular Stan.

"Not much. You know, this festival that happens every year." Stan glanced at his surroundings, the people piling into the fair by the minutes to enjoy the activities that beheld them.

"Right. Well we still need to talk. About our children." Kenny's smile faded into a frown as he folded his arms.

 _Oh Goddamnit._ Stan let out a small groan as he turned slightly away from Kenny to his right. "Kenny, we talked about this, I don't have full control over my son. I can only teach him and hope he takes in my message."

"Well clearly that kid of yours didn't listen to you," Kenny retorted.

"Kenny, don't be pedantic." Stan rubbed his forehead as he looked back at Kenny.

"Right, like your kid would do all that shit for no reason." Kenny rolled his eyes.

In his mind, Stan was getting rather sick of people constantly bringing up Cory's (possibly) bad reputation at school and how he was constantly reminded that it impacts the whole town. But unlike most of the other random parents his age, he couldn't exactly snarkily tell off Kenny. "I don't know what's going on with my son. Like he rarely ever wants to talk to me."

"Rarely ever talks to you, huh?" Kenny stepped over to Stan's right side, so now both were looking towards the Ferris wheel. "My daughter was like that." He looked over at Stan, who gazed back at Kenny, as if Stan were giving the facial expression telling Kenny to explain himself. "I don't think I've ever told you this, Stan, but Kelsey, my daughter, used to be silent with me. Would barely talk to me at all. Turns out she resents the things I did in the past. That and she was getting bullied at school."

Stan had decent understanding about Kenny's past, but the part about Kelsey being bullied surprised him. "Kelsey? Being bullied? She always struck me as a bit of a diva. Kind of like Bebe, no offense. As far as I remember, I think."

"Well, years ago, when I talked to her, it turned out that Kelsey had been bullied for years. Bullied by most people in school, Stan. I know Kelsey doesn't want me to go off telling you this, but it's not like she'll know, and it's not like you'll tell anyone, right?" Stan shook his head. "And I think she's still a little mad Kelly never came back with us."

Stan still remembered Kelly Nelson, the girl whom he, Kenny, Kyle, and Eric met during a Rainforest trip back when the four were in third grade. He remembered when Kelly moved to South Park in fourth grade and reunited with Kenny. Despite Kenny being a huge pervert, the majority of their class thought that like Stan and Wendy, Kenny and Kelly would be inseparable. Of course though, the majority turned out to be still wrong to this day however. "She misses her, huh?"

"Yeah." Kenny nodded. "That's not to say that what happened to my kid necessarily is happening to yours. I mean, it could be, but I don't know."

"Yeah." The more Stan thought about it, however, the more the story of Kelsey was implanted inside Stan's brain, and that it was possible that Cory would be going through the exact situation Kenny's daughter would be in.

The voice of Kenny pulled Stan out of his thoughts. "Our coworkers are meeting up at that table over there." He pointed to a wooden table a few yards from the Ferris wheel. "Let's meet them."

Stan and Kenny both worked at the South Park Geological Center. Their boss is currently Stan's dad, Randy Marsh. At the table was Randy, along with Bebe and various other coworkers, eight men and three women. As the two of them came up to the table, a blonde man with hair as long as Stan's looked up and waved. "Well we're all here now." The man's name was Ivan Taylor.

"Hey Ivan," Kenny waved back.

"Hey!" Bebe stood up to hug Kenny and Stan for a second.

"Glad you could make it." One of the two men with brown hair waved, both of them twins.

"Couldn't be here without Clinton, man," the other twin spoke.

"Clint and Justin Loomis," Stan smiled.

"You met Tommy Turner, the new guy, right?" a blonde woman named Hannah Hilton said.

Stan and Kenny turned to the man with short black hair. "Oh man, weren't you the guy whose face got sanded back in third grade so you had to get surgery?" Stan laughed as it brought back memories of Mr. Adler the shop teacher telling him and the rest of his friends not to screw around.

"That was him, yeah," a brunette man named Felix Stoley reminded.

Stan scanned to the other employees. His father Randy Marsh, the boss, and another coworker by the name of Cody Lewis were having a discussion about the new World of Warcraft game. Tyler Hoffman and Ellen Joseph (now Ellen Hoffman), both married, were holding hands at the table and enjoying the company quietly. And finally, Karen Anderson was off giving an angry rant to a half-awake, half-interested Preston Marlowe about her bumbling idiotic twin brother Andrew destroying her flower garden two days ago. It was still impressive to Stan how all of his present coworkers happened to be in his, Kenny's and Bebe's graduating class, and to make matters even funnier, all of the present employees except for Randy went to Elementary, Middle, and High school together.

And yet Stan and Bebe were the only employees with the most stable relationships. Randy still annoyed Sharon with his silly antics, as per usual.

Finally, Stan, Bebe, and Kenny sat down with the other employees at the table. "Hey dad," Stan said.

Randy opened up a can of Gluten-free Pabst Blue Ribbon. "Hey, Stan. How have things been going lately?"

"Good." Stan replied. "Is mom still cranky at you?"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much, she's always like that." Randy took his first sip of the beer.

"Drinking right now, Mr. Marsh?" Bebe rolled her eyes. "It's not even noon yet."

Kenny looked at the label of the can. He focused mostly on the can's name, not the fact it was Gluten-free. It brought back memories of his own past. "Goddamnit."

"What? This is normal!" Randy took another sip of beer. He sounded completely normal so far.

"Just wait, he does this all the time," Stan replied. He stood up from the table. "Kenny, Bebe, you wanna get up and walk around?"

Kenny and Bebe obliged as they turned around and waved goodbye to their coworkers. "We'll be back," Bebe said.

Stan made well sure the three of them were out of earshot from the rest of their coworkers before he began. "Okay, part of the reason why I wanted to talk to you two alone is because you know how our coworkers have children that are about the same age as our children right?" Kenny and Bebe both nodded. "Well it's about my son at school and I really don't need anymore awkward questions from them about my parenting skills, I've had enough of that shit all week. Bebe-" Bebe had her complete attention on Stan now. "-Kyle told me that our sons can't hang out anymore because apparently my son is a horrible influence on yours."

"Stan, Kyle and I have already discussed this." Bebe furrowed her eyebrows. "And I don't know why your son did all that. And to be honest, I don't completely agree with Kyle. Or Kenny."

"Well Stan's son shoved my daughter," Kenny reminded.

"Oh, yeah. Good point." Bebe cringed inwardly at the thought of a boy shoving down another girl for no good reason. "But let's be honest with ourselves, were we really that much better when we were young?"

"So are we back to questioning each others parenting skills now?" Stan, of course, didn't mean to sound defensive, but that was the vibe being given off at the moment.

Bebe, nonetheless, waved it off. "I'll get to that in a moment. But don't forget the time when we did try to start another Holocaust."

"That was all Eric, when he took Mel Gibson's The Passion of Christ too far," Stan reminded.

Bebe tried again. "Or when we had Cthulhu try to bring darkness to the world-"

"That was Eric also, when we played superheroes," Kenny retorted.

Bebe opened her mouth again, but just realized that her next example, the infamous incident of Scott Tenorman's parents being fed to him as chili, was also Eric's doing. "Was it seriously all Eric? That can't be right."

Stan waved Bebe off however. "I get what you're trying to say, I really do, but we were just kids who didn't know what they were doing back then."

"That's my point, but Kyle doesn't agree with me here." Bebe sighed.

The three continued walking along the drop tower when they saw Kelsey and her friends, but with Nikki absent. Nearby on the bench sat Cory alone, his head resting on his right hand, and his right elbow resting on his right thigh. The sight of loneliness brought grief to Stan. "Something tells me there's more going on than Cory wants us to know." He took a step towards Cory, but then decided against it. Cory didn't notice the three adults, and he was sure it'd be better that way for now. But when he looked back at Kenny and Bebe, he saw them fold their arms. "Come on, guys."

"Sometimes, I think Kyle is right." Bebe walked back towards the coworkers.

"Kenny?" But Kenny made no response as he followed Bebe back. The only thing that rang in Stan's mind now was the story Kenny told him earlier about his daughter.

* * *

Wendy stood by the rodeo pens, her left arm leaning on the fence, as she and Mary McDaniels were having a lighthearted chat. Mary McDaniels served as the mayor of the town twenty years ago before ultimately stepping down for other future mayors to come. Currently, Wendy's mother Deborah is the mayor.

"I remember when all the female students were getting trolled by Skankhunt42 at our school back when I was in fourth grade." Wendy rubbed her forehead at the recollection of the memories past. "All of us girls felt really stupid back then breaking up with our boyfriends. Ugh, we were the worst."

"At least you are happily married now...well a few of you are." Mary McDaniels shook her head.

"Eh, I don't know, that's why I'm starting to regret the job change. I could have been a great lawyer in retrospect but..." Wendy's left arm slid off the fence. Being a mid-level bureaucrat in the parks department of South Park was fairly easy, but she grew to dislike the effects of her own generation more, and it was visible in the children.

"It would be cliché for me to tell you to do whatever makes you happy, so I'm instead going to say this." Mary McDaniels briefly scanned her surroundings before she continued on. "You're a smart girl, and your husband's lucky to have you. But you'll always deal with idiots, and it's how you deal with the idiots, just like the things I did to deal with the fact I was mayor for some time."

"Like the times you did heroin?" Wendy snickered.

"Yes." But then Mary McDaniels did a double take after comprehending what Wendy just said. "I mean NO! Those are just stupid rumors! Anyways, I gotta get back to watching my granddaughter wanting to run with the cows. You take care now, Wendy."

"See you Monday." The two women parted ways with a final wave. As Mary McDaniels left, Wendy's ears perked as she heard a commotion between two familiar voices behind her. Turning around, saw Kyle and Eric in another verbal confrontation.

"Eric, I told you our children aren't dating." Wendy crept closer to hear better, watching a frustrated Kyle shake his head in disagreement. "And even if Sam and Nikki were dating, how is this a big deal?"

"Because, Kahl, I don't need your son fiddling around with my daughter, that's why," Eric retorted.

"If you're trying to say what I think you're trying to say, then all I can say is that they're only ten!" Kyle shot back.

"Kahl, you know how boys are, always trying to compete with girls, I'm not having that shit with my daughter." Eric cross his arms and held his chim up with a "Harumph!"

"Goddamnit, Eric, I swear you're still a dumbass or something." Kyle facepalmed.

Wendy's eyes drifted left and further back she saw Sam and Nikki holding hands also watching the small confrontation between Eric and Kyle. Her frown followed the children's own. Sam whispered something to Nikki that was inaudible to Wendy, and Nikki whispered back. The children slowly backed off out of sight. Able to read between the lines of what Eric was saying, she knew exactly what Eric is trying to imply. Still, it saddened her that Sam and Nikki were happy together, yet Eric was willing to break it up for such reasons.

She did not expect Craig in his police uniform to show up to chat with Eric and Kyle however. "Hello, boys, you're not landing yourselves in any trouble, eh?" Craig grabbed his sunglasses with his left hand and slowly tipped them downwards before bringing them back up, a cocky smile flashing on his face. He no longer wore his hat that he did in his younger years, showing off his short black hair in the sunlight.

Eric gazed closely upon the young cop. "Well, if it isn't Craig. How is the cop business doing?"

"Same ol', same ol', just kicking ass like usual," Craig replied, his smile hiding his true self.

Wendy had heard stories of Craig's heroic feats as a police officer. However, those stories drowned out the true stories of his relationship situation, or lack thereof. In short, a fair amount of Craig's salary went to pay Sally Turner for child support so she could raise their daughter Cindy Tucker. To the right of them she saw Token Black with his new wife Nichole, who had been wedded for only two months. They were both eating hot dogs and drinking soda out of straws from paper drinking cups akin to those found in fast food establishments. Of course, Token too was paying child support to Esther Stoley for their daughter Natalie Black. And mind her, Wendy certainly didn't envy Esther's life, doing things Wendy herself could never imagine doing.

"Wait, Kyle, don't you work with Craig sometimes doing lawyer stuff?" Eric asked.

"Sometimes." Kyle surprisingly cooled off fairly quickly from the verbal altercation with Eric earlier. "Last time I had to deal with Josh Meyers. He once TP'd the White House. Although that wasn't the reason I had to deal with him a month or two ago."

"Sooooo...what are you up to Craig?" Eric straightened out his arms.

"Oh me?" Craig had a look around. "Just doing my job, son. What about you two?"

"Oh, we were talking about how I don't want Kahl's son to date my daughter," Eric reminded.

Kyle facepalmed once again. "Damnit Eric, are we still on that?"

"Kahl, you know how boys are, even without hormones yet. You've been there before." With every word Craig heard, he found it harder to contain his laughter. "It's always a competition."

"Eric, you can't seriously think this will be good for your daughter, sheltering her away from other boys, she won't learn how to interact with the opposite gender if you do this."

"It's my daughter, and I do what I want, Kahl!" Kyle threw his hands up in the air, effectively giving up.

Craig let out a laugh. "I can see you two are having fun, haha. I'm gonna go somewhere else now, probably get an ice cream cone or something."

Having witnessed the entire altercation, Wendy simply shook her head. "Man, our generation is all awful parents. We're gonna ruin our own kids' lives."

Suddenly, someone put their arms around Wendy from behind her and made her yelp. She was about to kick the person behind her to try to break free until she heard her husband's voice. "Hey, hon, you wanna...woah, did I scare you?"

As Stan let go of Wendy, Wendy staggered back a bit. "No...not at all. I'm fine. What were you gonna say?"

"I said me, Kenny, Bebe, and our coworkers are gonna go watch my dad run with the cows later. You wanna come?"

"Run with the cows?" Wendy shook her head. "I thought you didn't want your dad doing dangerous stuff like that anymore. Didn't you try talking him out of it?"

"Oh, he'll listen to me as much as he would my mom. Which is never. But I'll probably try to talk some sense into him one more time." Stan let out a deflated sigh. "And probably fail at that too. Oh well."

"You fellas didn't forget about me, did you?" Stan and Wendy jumped at the sound as the couple turned around to find a Butters that seemingly came out of nowhere.

"What? No, Butters, I didn't expect for you to scare me like that," Stan replied.

"I managed to scare you? That's a first."

"Where's Lola?" Wendy asked.

"Oh, she's with my daughter Claire, who's getting her face painted," Butters replied. "I haven't seen it yet though. So what are y'all doing now?"

"We were gonna watch my dad run with the cows after lunch," Stan replied.

"Run with cows? That doesn't sound safe at all." Butters shuddered at the thought of potentially being trampled by some of the cows.

"Yeah, well you know Stan's dad, he's not exactly the brightest star in the sky," Wendy laughed.

* * *

Along a straight road were many racers and a pen full of cows. Exactly two miles ahead from the starting point would be the finish line. Racers lined up anxiously, ready to bolt off at the given gunshot. Legions of people gathered on the sides of the road, cheering to watch the impending doom of the racers. On a wooden platform stood a man with a, orange sweater, brown pants, a green vest, and an orange hat. He had a shotgun in his hands and his name is Jimbo Kern.

"Okay, everybody, okay. Settle down. Now I know you're all anxious to get to the Running of the Cows, BUT, let me remind you: those brave souls who _have_ decided to run against the cows through town do so at their own risk. I don't think I have to remind you that three people died in last year's Running of the Cows." Most of the crowd, however, paid no heed to Jimbo's words, and thus kept on cheering. "With that said, let's rock and roll! Everybody ready to run?"

Many of the racers shouted "YES!"

Jimbo aimed his shotgun into the sky and took aim. "Let the race begin!" He fired the gun.

All of a sudden, the pen doors were opened, and so tens of racers began booking it down the road for their lives as the cows followed quickly. Randy Marsh was one of such racers, and as he ran for his life, he could remember the very brief argument he had with his wife.

 _"Randy, what is your obsession with doing the most hilariously stupid things?!" Hearing about Randy wanting to run from the cows made Sharon want to vomit._

 _"Oh calm down, Sharon, I can do this, you don't have to treat me like a child all the time for Christ's sake," Randy chided. "And I bet I can totally get first place. Ten thousand dollars seems reasonable, right?"_

 _"Randy, we're sixty-five years old, we can't run that fast anymore. I swear, you make Homer Simpson look like a genius." Of course though, all of this arguing and babysitting over the years wore Sharon down. "But you're right, I can't stop you."_

 _"Well at least I wasn't skankhunt42," Randy scoffed._

 _"What does Gerald's trolling have to do with the fact that you're going to get splattered by cows because you're too stupid to realize you aren't as much of a hotshot as you thing you are?!" Sharon started walking back and forth. "It's like this all the time, you think you're hot shit then you get proven wrong, time and time again!"_

 _"This time, it's different Sharon, you're such a grandma, gawsh!" Randy opened the front door, stepped outside the house, and slammed the door shut so hard there might as well have been an earthquake afflicting the house._

"Oh...man...I...definitely should have...listened to Sharon." Randy was losing momentum against the younger racers. He could already hear screams of people getting caught in the waves of cows, trampled like horses on wheat fields. "No...fuck that...I...have to...prove her...wrong!"

At the finish line stood Stan, Wendy, Butters, and Lola, along with Stan's and Randy's coworkers. Butters and the coworkers were cheering Randy on. Stan and Wendy, however, could only groan in disgust, knowing this would certainly not end well at all, given Randy's track record when it came to stupid and dangerous things.

"Stan, Wendy, you both ought to be more supportive of Randy," Lola reasoned. "He's your father, Stan."

"Lola, come on, you can't seriously believe all this time that Randy has any common sense...or any sense for that matter." Wendy thought back, recalling everything Randy has ever done. "The shit he's done, any other woman would have divorced Randy already."

But Lola shook her head in disagreement. "But it's like that old saying, you know. What is it...I think it goes like this: 'You can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family.'" She turned towards her right to see any sign of the racers, but so far there was none.

"Yes indeed, Lolakins." As soon as Butters said the last word, Stan almost choked out laughter. "What's so funny, Stan?"

"Nothing, I just..." Stan also saw no racers in sight. "They should be here by now, I think. What's taking so long?"

"I can see them." Wendy pointed to where Stan and Lola were looking. "Look."

In sight was Randy, along with a twenty-year-old Asian woman and a fifteen-year-old Caucasian boy. Randy was slowly falling behind, and Randy was angry. Third place wasn't feasible in the slightest for him. "No! Damnit! Gonna get that first!"

The woman was in first place, and the young teenage boy was in second. Randy did his best to speed up, looping to the boy's right side. He tried several times to put his left foot out in front of the boy in an attempt to trip him, make him fall, and get trampled by the cows.

Stan, Wendy, Butters, Lola, and the coworkers saw Randy's attempted actions, however, and at that moment they stopped cheering. Disapproving murmurs between the small clique erupted. Even the happy-go-lucky Butters and his lovely wife Lola were disgusted by Randy's actions.

"Is my dad really..." Stan pinched the bridge of his nose.

"This is gonna suck." Wendy also pinched the bridge of her nose.

The teenage boy staggered, but maintained enough balance to recover from Randy's attempted trippings. Randy, however, lost balance because the force of the boy's feet were enough to send Randy to the ground. "Ah, you fucking teen!" Before Randy could say anything else, however, thousands of cow rained hooves of judgement upon the sixty-five-year-old man. "AHH! HELP! AHH!" But his screams were muffled by the trampling.

* * *

It was 6:04 PM and Cory followed his parents through the hallways on the third floor of Hells Pass Hospital. It was all too confusing, but he hadn't bothered asking why he was in the hospital in the first place. He never particularly liked hospitals, as the thought of disease running rampant and people screaming in pain from medical procedures made him slightly sick.

But now, he was ready to ask the question on his mind. "So why are we here, again?"

"Because sometimes it's the child who needs to babysit the parent." Every word from Stan's mouth was full of venom, clear enough to shut Cory up for the rest of their stay in the hospital.

"It's this room." Wendy pointed to room "322" with her left thumb. "You're passing it."

"Oh. Right." Stan and Cory turned around, walking back to the correct door. Wendy opened the door, and to them, it was exactly as expected: Sharon busy ranting at a bedridden Randy, his left arm and right leg both wrapped in casts.

"Glad you three are here!" Sharon turned away from the three newcomers, remaining her attention on Randy. "I was busy telling your grandfather what a useless moron he is! Do you want to know how much this medical bill is gonna cost, Randy?"

"I actually don't, no," Randy replied weakly.

"This is what I get, an idiot husband, and now I have a useless son, a useless daughter-in-law, and a useless grandson." Years of putting up with Randy, and years of being indirectly affected by Stan's and Wendy's creation of their son, has certainly tilted Sharon emotionally, and the results show.

Stan and Wendy remained silent. Cory spoke his next words softly. "Will he be fine?"

"Oh, he'll be fine alright. More than fine." Sharon gave a stressed sigh. "I know, what I just said just now..."

"Mom, we'll still look after him, don't worry about it," Stan replied. "Besides, I'm still gonna have to deal with the aftermath of my coworkers because of this." At least Wendy would be getting off much easier however.

Wendy opened her mouth to try to contest Sharon's insult, but ultimately ended biting her tongue. Sharon already has to deal with Randy's stupidity, and Wendy didn't want to cause another problem. Cory only focused on Randy. The only thought flowing through his mind being, Geez, am I gonna be this retarded when I grow older?

Another man came in, however, revealing himself as the doctor. A Canadian man no older than thirty-nine years old, his brown hair was buzz cut, his body was averagely toned, which is less muscular than Stan's, and he was shorter than Stan but taller than Wendy. On his white lab coat was a bronze nametag pinned on which clearly said "Dr. Artour Babaev". "Ah, the Marshes. Good to see you all again."

"Dr. Babaev, how are things going?" Wendy asked.

"Ah, looked after another patient who passed out drunk at the Cow Days Festival," Dr. Babaev replied. "You wouldn't know him anyways, just some punk-ass college kid. So, I see you people are busy."

"Actually, we were just about leaving," Stan replied, and Wendy nodded in agreement.

"Already? Cory asked.

Dr. Babaev nodded. "Alright, well I have to check in with Dr. Mao, now, he's very cranky tonight, so if you do run into him, don't be surprised if he's moody at you or something. Anyways, take care, have a good evening." Dr. Babaev left the room.

"Bye!" Stan and Wendy waved.

Sharon stepped towards Stan and Wendy. "Listen, I didn't mean to say that-"

"Mom, we told you it's fine, you have every right to be mad...at dad." Stan craned his neck around Sharon to see that Randy had already fallen asleep. "Not us though."

"Well I'm gonna stick around for a bit longer, but good night you guys." Sharon, in the end, ended up hugging Stan and Cory.

After the younger three left the room, they started walking back towards the elevators. "Well that was an interesting day. I mean, seeing my coworkers, my dad getting trampled by a bunch of cows."

"That's karma for him, trying to trip that kid while he was near the finish line." Wendy still couldn't believe the memory. "I mean, third place is still quite a bit of a reward, can't believe he was that greedy. But you know what also blew me away? Eric and Kyle."

As the elevator door opened, and as Stan, Wendy, and Cory stepped inside, Stan now had his full attention on Wendy. "What about them?"

"It's just...ugh, I can't believe the reasons Eric won't let Kyle's son date his daughter." The elevator door closed. "He probably thinks they're gonna like...do it or something. They're only ten, and even if they were old and mature enough to...you know, I don't think it's right to keep your daughter away like that."

"I'm not quite following," Stan admitted.

"What if you reversed the genders, like what if it was Eric's son and Kyle's daughter dating?" Wendy reasoned.

Then an eye-opening ding hit Stan's brain in perfect synchronization with the ding from the elevator stopping on the first floor. The elevator door opened on the first floor, and the three stepped out. "Oh, I see what you're saying now. Well, I mean, I guess you know how boys will turn out to be." Cory rolled his eyes at Stan's comment.

"Still pretty sexist, withholding your daughter from one of your closest friend's son just because she a girl," Wendy replied.

"Seems pretty consistent with Eric's personality, but yeah, you're right though," Stan nodded. Cory could only let out a huff. In his mind, he wouldn't mind if Sam got what would be coming to him anyways, he didn't feel sorry for Eric being an overbearing father at all.

Overall, it was a very interesting day for the family, but one thing that loomed in Stan's mind was the words of Kenny about his daughter.

* * *

 **So as this chapter was more focused on the adults, it gave me writer's block, along with me being busy with school. The running with the cows thing was from my original SPANG, but that had Nikki running instead of Randy Marsh. I just added Randy into this story because he's basically being treated as one of the main characters now.  
**

 **Speaking of references, I have referenced the episode "Skank Hunt" in my story. I won't speak how I truly feel about that episode, but it was memorable enough for me to deserve a mention in my story - mainly because Stan and Wendy broke up again in that episode, but I bet it won't last long. Anyways, see you next time.  
**


	13. Chapter 13: The Looking Glass

**Now, first off, it goes without saying that I don't condone rape, nor do I condone assault, arson, murder, mass murder, or literally any other crime for that matter. I also want to remind you that the canon characters belong to M &T. The reason I say this is that the beginning of this chapter might be...controversial (hopefully not). That said, I did write a "cleaner" version of the first flashback in this chapter that should include no such crimes above, so if I do get enough hate from this, I'll consider editing this chapter changing up, but I didn't replace it here yet because in my mind the "cleaner" version doesn't make as much logical sense.**

 **And, of course, if anyone is curious about the "cleaner" version, don't be afraid to mention it in your review! I'll address them in the next chapter!  
**

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

 _"Well the DNA test is here, and you are the father, Stan. Congratulations."_

 _Twenty-year-olds Stan's and Wendy's mouths froze agape in terror as the words were sounded out from their doctor. A Canadian man no older than twenty-nine, he showed the younger couple the DNA test results on the paper. His brown hair was buzz cut, his body was averagely toned, which is less muscular than Stan's, and he was shorter than Stan but taller than Wendy. On his white lab coat was a bronze nametag pinned on which clearly said "Dr. Artour Babaev". The room was decorated with trophies that seemed to originate from E-Sports, and there were pictures mounted on the walls. Some showed the doctor's family, others showed himself when he was the young couple's age with himself alongside other men wearing T-shirts representing E-Sports companies. And the picture next to where Wendy was sitting was a picture of an old fat man wearing glasses, on the bottom reading "Gabe Newell"._

 _Dr. Babaev's kind words suddenly gave Wendy a revelation so sickening she could almost vomit on the four-day-old Cory that she was cradling in her arms, as he was silently being breastfed through her right breast. "Doctor, I think it's best that I speak with Stan. Alone." The last word came out in a venomous tone._

 _Dr. Babaev nodded. He then reached into his right shirt pocket to take out two business cards and gave each to Stan and Wendy. The cards read his name and on the bottom was the phone number (420) 322-3154. "Don't be afraid to call or text me." As he turned around to open the door, there in the doorway stood another Canadian doctor, but this one of Asian descent. He was slightly fatter than the rest, about as tall as Dr. Babaev, and a similar hairstyle to him. He wore glasses whose frames were of average thickness. His nametag read "Dr. Jacky Mao". "Ah, perfect timing EternalEnvy-senpai."_

 _"Arteezy-chan," Dr. Mao replied. The two doctors drew into a hug and did so for about seconds. When they let go, Dr. Mao craned his neck to see the other couple. "I certainly hope things go well for you two, and I certainly hope you're excited about raising your baby." He then turned back to Dr. Babaev. "As for you, we must discuss great things together."_

 _Dr. Babaev nodded silently, and the two shut the room and went down the hallway out of sight from Stan and Wendy. Unfortunately for Stan, the last thing he wanted was to be left alone with his girlfriend, one that he was sure he would very quickly lose, and perhaps rightfully so. His voice trembled with fear as he struggled to make his next words. "W-Wendy, I-I'm so sorry-"_

 _"So you were the one who took advantage of me at Craig's party back months ago, how dare you! And you didn't even tell me?" Glass and daggers came from Wendy's eyes as she glared down Stan. Unfortunately, the full details of the memory of that party was lost in the ages. That said, she had a fairly good idea of what exactly happened. "I knew I shouldn't have drank too much."_

 _Stan did not drink at all at the party, as his friends labeled him as the designated driver for that night. "You were all drunk and shit, I figured maybe you'd end up with other guys or something, I don't know." Stan closed cringed inwardly, he knew that he panicked so much he said what he didn't mean to say._

 _"That's all I am to you, isn't it? Just a drunk whore?" As Wendy's tone escalated, Cory took his mouth off her breast and began to cry._

 _"And you came onto me, how was I supposed to resist?" Stan's heart beated furiously fast, not in a good way of course. "You were all over me, kissing me and shit!" He remembered as he was worried someone would try to take advantage of drunk Wendy, so he took her to a bedroom, but she wouldn't leave Stan alone, so Stan eventually succumbed to his urges.  
_

 _"That's rape! A sober guy having sex with a drunk girl is rape!"_

 _"No way!"_

 _"Yes! Even if the drunk girl attempts to seduce the guy!" It wasn't surprising to Wendy that Stan didn't know this, but then again, a surprisingly large amount of people wouldn't know. However, she was still disgusted that Stan didn't tell her, that Stan likely assumed she slept with another man while she was drunk. "Also, I cannot believe you'd accuse me of sleeping around!"_

 _"Wendy, that came out wrong, I was just-"_

 _"Zip it!" For a full two minutes, the only sound in the room was of Cory wailing due to the couple's argument. Wendy brushed her hair out of her left eye and sighed deeply. Having heard and seen stories of the horrors of what teen moms went through and how they had to sacrifice everything due to their boyfriends' irresponsibility, Wendy promised herself she'd never end up like them, that she'd never have a child before she was ready. And here she is now. But on the other hand, she did remember that she was the initiator in all of this, and in her mind, she didn't feel right to put all of the blame on Stan. Thus, she came up with this solution. "I'm not going to file any charges on you."_

 _Stan lowered his shoulders and sighed in relief. "Well that's-"_

 _"If you take care of Cory by yourself. I'm not risking my future because of you." Wendy handed Cory over to Stan. She then stood up and walked over to the door. "No way, I'm not ending up like those girls from those Teen Mom shows."  
_

 _"You're just leaving me? Just like that?" Stan couldn't believe that Wendy would leave him once again, for the umpteenth time, and this time, he messed up so hard it would take a huge miracle or perhaps even an act of God for it all to get fixed. Tears began to come from his eyes as he was rapidly losing the one he loved._

 _Wendy put her right hand on the doorknob and opened the door slightly, but she stopped and looked back at Stan. "I don't want to do this, I don't want to leave you like this, but all this is just too big...a fucking baby? Look, I promise I'll visit the baby at least once a week. You know...so that Cory doesn't feel too alone. I promise."_

 _That didn't comfort Stan however, he knew she'd never forgive him. He knew he'd still lose her regardless, that she'd only see him out of obligation for their children. But the thing about Stan is that he was just as clingy as Wendy is. And so, he was left devastated as he cried alongside Cory. As Wendy left the room and closed the door, she let out a huge gulp and felt her heart drop._ I hope I haven't made a huge mistake.

* * *

Along the streets of South Park that were illuminated by the Monday morning sun came kids and parents getting ready to leave their homes to go to school or work. While traffic echoed and faded in pattern like sine waves on a heartrate machine, there was one yellow school bus that made its way through the streets heading west. Inside the school bus were about 60 or so 4th graders.

Towards the front of the bus on the right side sat a single boy alone. His black hair was cropped, going a little past the top of his ears. He wore a purple jacket with the hood down, green gloves, and blue pants. He lazily blinked his blue eyes as he looked out the window and sighed, gazing at the various pedestrians who went about their business.

 _Ugh, I hate school. Only two more weeks of this and I'll be outta this mess. Whatever, I'm sure things will get better over the next two weeks, I hope._ The optimism from the kid drained quickly as he sighed again. _Oh, who am I kidding? The only person I'm deluding here is myself.  
_

 _"Good luck at school."_ Those were the last words the boy heard from his mother before he walked out the door of his house. Most people, however, saw the tone of her words as rather passive aggressive, and Cory was no different. However, he didn't have anything against his mom in particular, but this thought occurred to him when he felt the bus stop at a certain place.

School.

"ALRIGHT KIDS! SHUT UP AND GET OUT!" The screech of Ms. Crabtree, the school bus driver, rang through the boy's ears as if someone stuck fireworks next to his ears. He jumped in surprise. Groaning in disgust, he swung his black backpack onto himself and was the eighth kid off the bus, leaving without making any sound.

The boy sighed as he was suddenly pushed along by hundreds of other students piling through the front double doors. He had to contend with boys pushing other boys, girls giggling and gossiping while piled directly in the middle of hallways blocking paths, and couples of boys and girls of all ages (making valiant attempts at) flirting. The boy did his best to slip through the masses doing his best to avoid eye contact with everyone.

As he was putting his backpack in his locker and shutting it, he turned around to see a small first grade girl waving innocently at the older boy, her brown hair tied in pigtails, with a blue coat over her pink dress. "Hello, Cory Marsh. Would you like to donate to the American Cancer Society to help fight cancer?"

"Oh my gosh, what is with all these people who keep appearing behind me when I get to my locker every morning?" Cory was truly getting sick of this running gag, especially since more often than not, the person who appeared behind him would usually end up betraying Cory in one way or another. "And no, I'm not donating any money!"

"Come on, please?" The little girl gave Cory the most innocent puppy-dog eyes as she offered out a basket, not many coins inside.

Cory sighed. He did feel bad about refusing to donate after all. Remembering how his mother fought against Breast Cancer before, he was sure she wouldn't be happy not donating. Cory reached into his right pants pocket to pull out a crumpled dollar and threw it into the basket. "There goes my soda money today." He rarely got the opportunity to drink soda, and he had the money today to drink soda without having to sacrifice some of his lunch, so he couldn't wait to have another taste of soda. Unfortunately for him, that was another dream - gone.

"Wow, that's actually the most anyone gave me since last week!" The little girl pulled out the crumpled dollar and straightened it, observing that it was just an ordinary one-dollar bill. "Thank you!"

 _I just became the biggest donor? Seriously?_ Cory simply shook his head at the thought. _Didn't think there were so many ungrateful assholes at my school._ Without another word, Cory left the girl and went to round another corner, but hearing two familiar voices made him stop before the corner's edge. _Oh Goddamnit._

"Nikki, what are we gonna do about your dad?" It was Sam Broflovski's voice that came out, and Cory was certain about who Sam was talking to. "He's gonna find out, soon, and when he does, he's gonna kick my Jew-spawn ass."

"Sam, chill out, I don't think it will be that bad...right?" Nikki Cartman's voice gave Cory the vibe that both parties were uncertain of how Nikki's dad Eric would impact things.

"Nikki, come on. Didn't you hear our dads at the fair? Your idiot dad keeps thinking that all I ever do is think with my dick. Well I'm not like that, and I never will be." Those were very interesting choices of words to Cory, especially considering they weren't nearly preteens yet. Cory somewhat wanted to go away from Sam, but he was quite intrigued by the direction of this conversation, so he stuck around.

"Can you not?" Nikki's tone was more harsh and stressed.

"Not what?" Sam asked.

"Not refer to my dad as an idiot? Really, Sam? I know he can be a jackass, but so are you right now."

"I'm the one being insensitive? You're the one treating me like I'm crazy and trying to act rational, diverting the truth. The fact of the matter is..." Unfortunately for Cory, Sam and Nikki walked straight into him and they almost bumped into each other. Sam took one hard look at Cory before shoving him away with such force that it severely staggered Cory, knocking him to the ground. There was a sudden flare in Sam's eyes as he gritted his teeth with anger. "Eavesdropping isn't nice, asshole."

"Sam, why would you-" Nikki couldn't believe what she saw - two boys who should have been best friends now bitter rivals.

"I don't even want to look at him. Filthy eavesdropper. Oh and if you think about telling our parents about us, I'll smash your head into the lockers, got that?" Sam turned to walk back past the corner he came from.

Nikki took one last look at Cory, but ultimately said nothing to Cory, so she followed Sam. "Sam, that wasn't very nice..."

At that point, Cory simply let out a heavy exhale. The poor kid could never catch a break. _I deserve this, for telling Sam to kill himself._

* * *

Class was not interesting to say the least. Mr. Garrison went on about the time he ran for president against a "Turd Sandwich". He also reminisced about the damages of skankhunt42 and how boys should respect girls (which he was required to talk about, as everyone knew that Mr. Garrison isn't exactly the most politically correct person).

When the morning recess bell rang, Cory left the classroom feeling lonely, empty, and hollow as usual. As he trudged down the hallway, he heard a voice that brought dread and panic to him. "So what's up your ass today?" His heart was beating quickly, worried of the abuse to come to him. He slowly turned around to see John Donovan, but with his back towards Cory. Cory slid a little to the left to see that John paid no notice to Cory at all, but was rather addressing his twin sister Leslie.

"Can't you ever go one day without pissing off mom and dad?" Leslie spat.

"You are such a kiss up, you know that Les?" John replied. "You watch that show _Codename: Kids Next Door_ too, right? Do you know about the Delightful Children From Down The Lane and how they love to brown-nose every adult authority? Because that's you."

"Oh go burn in hell, John!" Leslie retorted. "This is why I hate you, because you always have some stupid, snarky reply. And since you brought that show up, let me remind you of how your like the dipshit Numbuh 4."

 _What the hell are those two going on about?_ The conversation was rather wild and ridiculous, especially the part about the Donovan twins relating each other's personalities to characters from a kid's TV show in a negative fashion. He slowly backed up around a corner, but remained, still listening.

"Geez, what a hypocrite you are," John said. "You're only acting like this because mom and dad are always on your side. It's like you can never do no wrong."

"Maybe because it's always you?" Leslie shot back.

"How about that time you and Claire Stotch told everyone who Cory liked?"

Cory suddenly opened his eyes, shock in the realization that the reason everything went downhill for him was due to Leslie and Claire. The two snakes, innocent and demure on the outside, yet evil on the inside, was what Cory started seeing them as. _Those assholes. Those bitches Leslie and Claire!  
_

"Whatever's going on with you and Cory - that was your fuckin' crusade. Leave me out of it."

John shook his head. "Just so you know, you can stop pretending like you're all innocent or anything. Because you're not. You're a snake, always have been, and always will be. Makes sense, since you're all spoiled by mom and dad for as long as I can remember."

"And you're still the same huge tryhard jackass you've always been. Go away." Leslie stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry at John.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Cory quickly turned the other way and speedwalked towards the outside. He was sure that whatever just went on was just another product of a brutal sibling rivalry, and it was nothing new to Cory to see the Donovan twins fighting each other. He felt zero empathy for either of them, but to be fair, they both weren't exactly the kindest people to Cory either.

"What a shit world I live in. Everything's fucked up and it sucks."

Sometimes, Cory pondered what would happen if he truly never existed - wondering what would happen had Stan and Wendy been responsible adults. After all, as he knew beforehand, he was never supposed to exist anyways. Other times, he wondered if all of his adversaries never existed. The bottom line is that Cory hated his situation and would wish for anything to make it go away.

He went outside to the playground to sit by the old tree again, the one where Stan and Wendy got back together when they dealt with a list. It was a rather sweet irony that the very tree where love reignited is also the tree where their loner son stood.

A red rubber ball landed in the snow in front of Cory's feet. Cory looked up to see nine other fourth graders on the blacktop on top of four squares inscribed within a larger square written in white paint. "Aw dang it, it landed over there? Hey Tyrell, I dare you to get that ball from that weirdo Cory over there." A blonde boy wearing a light blue jacket with navy blue pants with a yellow scarf pointed straight at Cory.

"Ah shucks, you're such a wimp, Matt Dimmons. And so are the rest of y'all." Tyrell the redhead stepped over towards Cory and held his arms out. "Give me the ball." Cory picked up the ball and slowly looked up at Tyrell. Tyrell didn't come off as very friendly, so Cory stood still, stunned from Tyrell's presenting mood. "I said give me the ball, you creep."

Cory was quite triggered, and in a swift heap of rage, holding the ball with his right hand, he reeled his right arm back, and with as much force as he could, chucked it straight at Tyrell's face. Of course, Tyrell's reaction time was just as swift as Cory's temper, and so he caught the ball, but not without staggering backwards due to the force of the throw. He landed on the snow butt first, but got up quickly and without pause. "Ya, thanks, asshole."

"Eh, don't worry about him, Tyrell, it's just a ball," Matt replied. "Raging idiots like him, they'll never make it far in life. Probably end up homeless or in prison for rape. Probably well deserved, too. Let's just go back to playing Four-Square."

Cory sat down at the tree, realizing that once again he dug himself deeper than he already is. He did his best to resist the urge to cry, but the reminder of him being insulted first then treated like it's all his fault did him in. It was all he was ever known for doing nowadays - cry. "I just want some friend...I just want to not be hated...I just want to not be a mistake."

* * *

When the class departed for lunch, Nikki and Kelsey both met at their lockers again. For a few moments, both girls were silent. Then finally, Nikki broke the silence. "Hey."

"Hey," Kelsey replied. She turned around and prepared to walk away.

However, Nikki called out to her, "Hey, wait!" Kelsey stopped in her tracks and turned around to hear what Nikki had to say. "Kelsey, I just want to be friends again." Kelsey stood still, not making any sound nor reaction, so Nikki continued on. "Kelsey, I know we had some stupid fights last week, but that's all they are. Just stupid fights. And I'm sorry about them. Please, Kelsey. I just want to go back to the way we were, B.F.F.s and all."

Neither girl made any sort of sound. Then finally, with a huff, Kelsey spoke up. "Before all the stupid bullshit with Cory pushing me down and what came after?"

Nikki nodded. "Yeah. That will work."

"Well, it's all his fault anyways, that guy is all sorts of messed up. I don't want to talk about him anymore." Kelsey shuddered as she replayed the memories of her father Kenny telling the true story of Stan and Wendy and their past endeavors to Kelsey. "Anyways, he still won't say why he pushed me huh. And he probably still stalks me."

Nikki gulped as the question came up again. She really wanted to tell someone responsible about John, and she really wanted to make amends with Cory, but she had a feeling that she was only going to make things worse. "No. Nothing. And didn't you just say you don't want to talk about Cory anymore?"

"Right. Haha, I'm such a hypocrite, derp." Kelsey's smile faded. "Look, I don't want to fight you either."

"I know we have our differences and all," Nikki added.

"We can talk about it later, but first, I wanna get some lunch, I'm hungry."

The line was short today, and when the two girls went into the cafeteria, there was a certain cafeteria chef waiting for them, placing two plates of mashed potatoes, steak, and broccoli on their trays. "Hello there, children!"

"Hey Chef!" Nikki and Kelsey both said.

"Say, how are your dads doing right now?" Chef asked. "I haven't spoken to them in a while."

"Chef, my dad...he doesn't like my relationship with Sam." Nikki thought back to when Eric was expressing disapproval to Kyle about Sam and Nikki dating at the cow festival last Saturday.

"What? You mean Kyle's kid? That doesn't sound right at all." Chef shook his head. "Did you tell your father yet?"

"No," Nikki replied.

Chef sighed. "Well you gotta be upfront and honest about it at one point, but you also have to tell him that this is how you really feel about Sam, and you have to stand strong. You can't let your dad control you the rest of your life. Do you know what I'm saying."

Nikki didn't like Chef's advice all. "Yes, I know exactly what you're saying, thanks," she lied.

"Alright, well good luck, girls!"

As Nikki and Kelsey headed out the doorway to the main cafeteria room, Nikki couldn't help but groan. "Man, I don't like his advice at all."

"Oh, right, I forgot you two are an item now," Kelsey replied. "I mean, yeah, just hide it from your dad, I don't see what's the problem."

"But at the same time, maybe Chef's right, like what if my dad finds out?" Nikki asked.

"It will be fine, stop worrying."

As Nikki and Kelsey sat down with their friends, Nikki couldn't help but notice Cory sitting all alone at the table across from her view. His eyes were glued to his own food as he twirled the fork in his right hand. _Jesus, I have to talk to him._

"Nikki? Are you paying attention?"

"Huh?" Nikki looked up to realize that it was Leslie speaking, and she further realized that she tuned the rest of her friends out.

"What's going on with you, Nikki?" Claire asked.

"Nothing. Nothing. I'm fine." But Leslie and Claire looked at each other, knowing that Nikki was lying.

After the children were finished eating, Leslie and Claire followed Nikki, unknowing of the two girls' presences. They followed Nikki all the way to find Cory at his locker, and so, Leslie and Claire hid around the corner listening. "Hey, Cory, wait."

When Cory saw Nikki, it gave him mixed feelings. On one hand, he felt abandoned by her, but at the other hand, he was glad she was here now. "Oh what a surprise. What do you want?"

"Look, I'm sorry things turned out the way they did," Nikki replied.

"You screamed at me for being insecure a week ago and now you're sorry?" Cory's voice quavered with fear as he held his hands close to his heart defensively. He felt his back against the lockers.

Nikki shook her head. "Cory, I can fix this, just let me tell them-"

"No!" Cory stomped his right foot for emphasis. "You can't tell anyone that John and his friends were behind me doing all that shit, because if they find out and they get in trouble, I'm dead."

Leslie's and Claire's jaws dropped at the revelation. Leslie especially couldn't believe what she heard, disgusted that her twin brother was behind all of this (mainly because Leslie was also targeted by Cory before) and because Nikki refused to reveal everything. "Those fuckers."

"So your brother and his friends are the ones behind all this," Claire replied. "Those...assholes!" Claire rarely ever swore, but when she did, everyone can understand the emotions she felt.

"Shh!" Leslie shushed fiercely, still intent on listening in.

"You're right. You're absolutely right. What am I thinking? That'd be horrible." Nikki extended her arms. "Hug?" Cory drew in to hug Nikki as he started weeping tears once again, too concentrated on his own emotions to notice Nikki's sweet smell. "Cory, I'm really sorry about everything, and I'm sorry I've been such a bitch to you the entire year. And when we did that egg project and you told me your story, I should have done something about it. But I promise you, I'll be with you, alright?"

"Alright," Cory replied softly.

The two were still hugging after two minutes. "Uh, Cory?"

"Yeah?"

"You can let go now."

"Oh, sorry." Cory broke away, blushing in embarrassment. He didn't want to admit how pretty Nikki was. "I guess I'll be going now."

As Cory walked towards Leslie and Claire, Nikki called back. "Oh and Cory?"

"Yeah?"

Nikki paused for a moment before continuing on. "You should really see a counselor."

There was silence for a few seconds but then Cory nodded. "Okay."

When Cory passed by Leslie and Claire, he did not notice either of the girls, too focused on his own feelings. However, they heard Sam's voice where Cory once stood. "Nice hug." This, of course, caught the two girls by surprise so they again concentrated on listening into the conversation.

"Uh, were you eavesdropping on me?" Nikki's tone was rising.

"I didn't hear everything, but I did see you hug Cory," Sam replied. "Seriously, what the hell is that all about?"

"Sam, I know it doesn't look good, but I swear I am not cheating on you," Nikki panicked.

"Then why did you hug him?!" Sam inquired, his tone also rising as well.

"Because he feels like shit! Because of what you and your friends made Cory do, all the shit he got in trouble for!" Nikki gasped immediately after saying that. She covered her mouth with her palms, knowing that she said what she shouldn't have said. Now all she wanted to do was slam her own head onto the lockers.

Sam glared at Nikki. "How long did you know all this?"

"Cory told me everything when we were partnered up for the egg project," Nikki replied. "No, you know what, I'm getting sick of this, all of this - this was your fuckin' crusade! All of this, you did this!"

Sam rolled his eyes. "Let's not forget the times you and your girlfriends harassed Cory as well, like, if you wanna talk, then you better not sound like a hypocrite!" Sam replied. "Not to mention, I tried helping Cory, and what did I get? A slap to the face."

"Help?" Nikki scoffed. "You guys were awful to him! And even today, you threatened to smash his head into the locker."

"Because he was going to tell my dad?!" Sam yelled back.

"He was not, and you're still awful to him!" Nikki also started yelling as well.

"And you weren't?!" Sam shook his head. "Gosh, you are so stubborn! Did you not see him go all freak out mode at me? Or when your girls kept complaining about him?"

"Yeah, well that's what happens when you manipulate people, huh?" Nikki retorted.

"You and your friends know quite a lot about that sort of thing." Sam still knew of what Nikki's friends were like originally and how they have now turned out, and seeing that transformation sent chills down his spine.

Nikki rolled her eyes this time. "Sorry my life wasn't so perfect like yours, why should I not tell anyone again?"

"Well you better not tell anyone, alright? Because you know what's going to happen."

"Oh I won't tell anyone, I promise. Because I do know what's going to happen." There was a very awkward silence for an entire two minutes. Then Nikki was the first to speak. "See you tomorrow I guess."

"Yeah," Sam replied. "See ya."

Leslie and Claire quickly but quietly as they could darted over to the doorway to the principal's office, making sure neither Nikki nor Sam did not see them. When they got there, Leslie and Claire were both huffing and puffing from the sudden exercise. "I can't believe that after all that, Nikki won't go through it telling the principal, and that she's letting Sam walk all over her."

"Yeah, what is she worried about? Cory? I mean, come on, Cory already did himself in, but at least my brother will get put in his place finally," Leslie replied.

"And it just sickens me how much of a drama queen Nikki is becoming, thinking she's God's gift to the world or something." Claire's tone was harsh and aggressive, which is much unlike her usual self. "She's overcompensating for something, I can tell."

"Okay, let's just calm down here for a second, there's no need to get so heated over this issue, we can be rational," Leslie replied.

"I will go in there and tell Principal Victoria everything, because Nikki won't be the good girl here," Claire said.

"Alright, but just think about this, like the last time we did something, we spread rumors too. Are you sure you wanna go in there and tell Principal Victoria? I mean, whatever you choose to do, I will back you up, I swear it." Leslie took a close look at Claire to see what she thought.

But Claire didn't give Leslie's words much thought however. "Yes. Let's get in there."

* * *

Sam could barely touch his dinner tonight. The chicken breast, rice, and okra sat on his plate almost completely untouched while his sister was busy eating it quickly. Luckily, the rest of the family was too busy in the conversation to notice Sam's inability to eat yet.

"How are things between Stan and Kenny nowadays?" Kyle asked. "Does Kenny hate Stan anymore?"

"They're getting along fine," Bebe said. "In fact, Kenny told me this, but Wendy texted him what Stan would wear to work, so he got one of his neighbor's beagles, dressed that beagle in the clothes Stan would wear, brought it into work, and then placed the beagle at Stan's desk. Shoulda seen the look on Stan's face when he saw the beagle."

Kyle let loose a modest laugh. His eyes then fell on Sam and seeing Sam not eat made him frown. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm not hungry, can I go to bed early tonight?" Sam asked.

"Do you want to talk about it, honey?" Bebe asked.

"No, I'm just tired."

When Sam brushed his teeth and lied down on the bed, he quickly wiped away the tears that formed in his eyes. His heart felt nothing but regret when he met Nikki today, and he hoped that bridges wouldn't permanently be burnt between them.

* * *

 **The conclusion here was a bit short, but do leave a review. Especially tell me what you think about the flashback, I don't mind changing it if you don't like it. That is all, guys.**


	14. Chapter 14: Two Betrayals

**I was supposed to get this finished last week but I was too busy playing World of Warcraft LOL. Also, Dark Souls is a children's book in this fic. Let that sink in.**

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

 _Twenty-two-year-old Wendy Testaburger, wearing simply a pink tank top, black yoga pants that only went down halfway to her calves, and flip-flops, speedwalked with panic through the summer morning streets of west South Park. Having been told of Stan's possible whereabouts by Dr. Artour Babaev just two days ago, Wendy was on her last possible address according to the note the Canadian doctor gave her. All of the other possible addresses given only resulted in Wendy being seen as clueless or possible even malevolent._

 _She stopped on the sidewalk at a corner as she waited for her turn to cross the street to the other side. Beyond the intersection was an apartment complex on the right side met by a wide-open parking lot. On the left across the street from the aforementioned complex was a brothel, newly built and furnished, called "Super Fun Time". It brought her back to remind her of the time when Fred Cruz became the president, shortly after Wendy had just started her freshman year in college. Between the president and the legislation, they decided that it would be a good idea to outlaw birth control entirely because they felt teens were abusing birth control too often for their own desires and forgetting about their real responsibilities because of it. While the ravenous opposition of such creation would prove very obviously powerful, the bill, as if by some dark miracle, eventually came to pass._

 _Unfortunately, that led to an increase of childbirth over the last two years (as well as abortions)._

 _When a bill as powerful as this one eventually goes so very wrong, the natural thing to do would be to lean far back the other way as much as possible in a knee-jerk reaction. Thus the legislation not only re-allowed birth control, but also legalized prostitution. Being who Wendy is as a person, she hated seeing men waste away their life savings just to have one more fun accompaniment by a seedy woman. So naturally, the sight of a brothel so close to the last place Stan could possibly be made her sick to the stomach._

 _Making her way to the apartment complex, Wendy pulled out the piece of paper Dr. Babaev had given her, Stan's address written on that paper. Seeing that Stan's apartment was number 214, the hundredth digit noting that he was likely on the second floor, Wendy wasted no time making her to the building, walking up the stairs, and walked the balcony not quite all the way to the corner, but up to where 214 was. The window was open, and Wendy could clearly hear what was going on inside, so Wendy glued her back to the wall next to the right of the window, strafed slightly to her right, and out of the corner of her right eye she took in everything that went on inside the apartment. The apartment was rather small, and there appeared to be only two more doorways, one that led into a bedroom and another that likely led into a bathroom. There was one couch in front of the TV, which had a pillow on one end, telling Wendy that Cory likely slept on the couch every night._

 _"Daddy, I want my Cookie." Two-year-old Cory Marsh sat in his high chair as he tried to reach to the dining table for his teddy bear._

 _"After we finish the story." Stan held a picture book in his lap as he sat in another regular chair. He was only wearing a white undershirt and black basketball shorts._

 _"Please?" Cory brought his palms together, as if he was saying a prayer. Cory had a rather short attention span in that he was obsessed with his teddy bear Cookie. Stan gave the brown teddy bear over to Cory and Cory immediately hugged it tightly. "Yay."_

 _"Anyways." Stan continued to read the story. "''The First Flame quickly fades. Darkness will shortly settle. But one day, tiny flames will dance across the darkness. Like embers, linked by lords past.' The fire keeper paused for a few seconds, and then as the world faded to complete blackness she spoke her final words. 'Ashen one, hearest thou my voice, still?''" Those were the last words the book had. Stan scanned the back cover of the book then at the front cover. "Sheesh, this is dark. Well, I guess that's why they call this book 'Dark Souls 3 Abridged'. But still, this doesn't seem like it's supposed to be a children's book. And the last part I just read I swear my mom tells me this all the time."_

 _"What, daddy?" Cory asked._

 _"Nothing. I...gotta remember that last part." Stan looked up at his son, who was still infatuated with his own teddy bear, and narrowed his eyes. "You didn't pay attention to the last part of the story at all did you?"_

 _"Huh?" Cory took his eyes off his own teddy bear and looked at his dad in confusion._

 _Stan sighed again. He picked stood up and picked up Cory, holding him against his own chest with his left arm, his right hand placing the book on the dining table. "You're a smart kid, Cory. You're like - you're like only two, and already you can speak nearly full sentences. You're a lot like your mom Wendy." Stan, still holding Cory, paced around the dining table as he continued to speak. Cory was still busy focused on his teddy bear. Stan let out a harsh exhale. "If only she were with me...keeping her stupid promise."_

 _Initially, Wendy was relieved that Stan seemed to do a good job taking care of Cory by himself for the last two years, but Stan's last words put a dent in Wendy's heart, causing her to sink down to the floor. Throughout all this time she still had her back against the wall literally, next to the window, and from the balcony she could see the brothel across the street. Her next words were softly to herself. "I...I let Stan down...I should have been there for him. Oh God, I miss Cory also. How could I do that to my own son?"_

 _Unfortunately, Wendy made a little too much noise standing up again, and from inside, Stan quickly heard some rustling of clothes. His heartbeats quickened, adrenaline starting to flow through his body. He was certain someone was eavesdropping on him, but he wasn't sure who. "Who's there?!"_

 _Cory immediately took his eyes off his teddy bear and looked upon his dad, his heart beating as well. "D-daddy?" Nervously, Cory clutched his teddy bear tighter._

 _From outside, Wendy realized that she caught Stan's attention, but she wasn't sure of what to do._ Oh shit, what do I do? I want to see Cory, but I don't think Stan will let me. Should I run? Take Cory with me and run? Or maybe kick Stan in the shin? Why not all at the same time?

 _Of course though, Wendy spent too long thinking and too little committing to one action, so when the door opened, Stan looked around to see the beautiful Wendy Testaburger to his left standing nervously. Studying her features closely, normally any man would be captivated by such beauty, but for Stan, it brought back of painful memories past. He felt his jaw drop, but certainly not due to good feelings. "Wendy?"_

 _Wendy slowly turned to Stan, still frozen from fear. Unsure of how Stan was going to react, Wendy only showed a meek, dumb smile. "Uh...hi?"_

 _Stan closed his mouth, slightly curling his lips. He could feel the hurt in his heart from what Wendy did two years ago, but he still managed to maintain composure. "What are you doing here?" The words came out a little too quickly for Wendy's taste, she could tell Stan wasn't exactly friendly to her, and with good reason._

 _Wendy walked over to the doorway to Stan's home. "I...wanted to see Cory." She peered into the apartment to see Cory staring back at Wendy, still gripping his teddy bear to his heart. "Hi, Cory," Wendy waved with her left hand._

 _For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then Stan backed into the apartment and tried to shut the door. Wendy, however, reacted just as quickly, throwing her entire body against the door to try to push it back open. After a few seconds, Stan did end up overpowering Wendy and managed to close the door, but not before she staggered through the doorway and into the apartment. "Ugh...seriously, Stan?" Wendy was slowly starting to catch her breath again as she regained balance._

 _Stan folded his arms, still unhappy at the company. "You - you wanna explain to me w-why you're here?" Underneath Stan's harsh tone was extreme nervousness._

 _Wendy could detect Stan's discomfort through his slightly broken speech. She put her right hand on Stan's left shoulder to try to calm him down. "Stan's I am so, so sorry-"_

 _"No!" Stan immediately smacked Wendy's hand away from his shoulder. "T-two years, Wendy! Two f-fucking years! You're two years too late!" Just as Stan's tone escalated, Cory started crying loudly into his teddy bear. Stan went over to pick up Cory, rubbing his back to try to comfort their crying son. "Now you're - you're just going to come back into my life...tell me your sorry?!"_

 _"Me? Sorry? You're the one who took advantage of me at that party!" Wendy shot back, making herself louder so that she could be heard over Cory's crying. She continued inching towards Stan._

 _"I thought this is about you wanting to say you're sorry!" Stan let out a growl as he continued to try to get away from Wendy, now putting the dining table between each other. "Don't forget about the promise you made me back in the doctor's office two years ago!"_

 _"I..." Wendy's tone lowered now as it struck her again. "...I..."_

 _"Y-you k-know, how you always bag on others to keep their promises?" Stan felt Cory slightly slipping through his grip so he picked him up again. "You said you were going to visit me once a week, for the good of Cory." Seeing Wendy again was so emotionally taxing on Stan that he had to pause for a few seconds before continuing on. "But then when people show me your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, I always see you post about hang out with other guys, pretending you don't even have a fucking son at all? But you know what? It's not about that, it's that I'm happy, Wendy. I'm happy I know who you really are now. You're someone who can't be counted on! You're someone who can just bail on the people you love! And I'm referring to your son, in case you still don't get it!" Stan pulled up a chair from the dining table and sat down, mentally drained from such a poignant situation._

 _Ironically, those words were the exact same Wendy told Stan back when he broke up with her when they were both ten when Stan tried to make money off the Washington Redskins franchise. "That's...that's why I came back." Wendy also pulled up a chair across from Stan and sat down. She placed her arms on the table, buried her own head into them, and began to cry. "I-I-I'm s-so sorry! I'm a horrible mother! I shouldn't have left you, I-I want to see Cory again!"_

 _"I...I...guess y-you get it now." Seeing both Wendy and Cory cry made Stan really uncomfortable. Everything gave Stan a massive headache and heartache. For about three entire minutes, Stan was dead silent as the other two continued to sob. Stan, too, wanted to cry, but ended up resisting. And despite the amount of contempt Stan held for Wendy, he could clearly see the hurt on her, he realized that her mistakes also affected her as well. Lastly, he remembered that it was his lust that caused all of this in the first place, so in the end, Stan wanted to be the one to give out a reaching hand, and a loving one at that. "Do you want to hold Cory?"_

 _"Yes!" Wendy wasted no time taking Cory (and his teddy bear) from Stan and cradling him in her arms._

 _Cory, however panicked, realizing he was being taken by a woman he didn't know. "Daddy!" He tried to reach out, but Stan only sat there. Cory continued to cry, still threatened by the woman unknown to him._

 _After a few minutes, both Wendy and Cory stopped crying. Cory finally figured out that Wendy wouldn't hurt him, and Wendy was able to maintain some semblance of sanity again. Stan thought for a moment before continuing on. "Do you still wanna see Cory again?"_

 _"Yes, please, Stan, I will honestly do anything just to be with him," Wendy said with pure confidence. "Whatever you want."_

 _Stan nodded. "So anyways, in case you're wondering, I'm working at City Wok and the grocery store, you know, from where we used to go when we grow up. I'm also taking online classes now, can't really major in electrical engineering like I originally planned anymore because of...you know." Wendy listened closely to Stan's every word as she held Cory, who was now playing with his teddy bear again. "Thing is, my dad offered me a job to work with him at the Geology Center, and my interview is tomorrow, and I need someone to take care of Cory. I was going to ask my mom...until you showed up. Are you in?"_

 _"Yes! I am fucking in!" Wendy immediately covered her mouth afterwards, realizing she just swore in front of Cory. "Oops, I probably shouldn't have said that." She let out a few giggles as Cory broke free of Wendy and moved over to Stan._

 _"Yeah, he is very fast at learning new words, trust me." Stan got up, opened the dishwasher, and got out an empty class. He went over to the refrigerator to fill it up with ice first, then water. "Do you want something to drink?"_

 _"No thanks," Wendy replied._

 _"I told Cory he'd turn out just like you." Stan then sat back down at his chair._

 _"I heard from the outside." Wendy took another look around, and the more she thought about it, the more the apartment seemed smaller to Wendy than when she first saw it from outside in. "Honestly I'm amazed how you lasted two years like this."_

 _"It wasn't that easy." Stan took a sip of water, placed the glass on the table, then took his eyes off Wendy and looked down at his palms that rested on his lap._

 _"What did you end up reading to Cory anyways?" Wendy used her right hand to slide the book that Stan read to Cory over to her end of the table and rotated it so that it was right-side up from her point of view. "'Dark Souls 3 Abridged.' Isn't this like...a really dark fantasy video game?"  
_

 _"It is, bought it because I found it interesting someone made this into a children's book," Stan replied._

 _After a few moments, Wendy stood up from her chair. "I should get going, I'm supposed to meet my friends today in the mall here. Did you need anything else before I go?"_

 _"No." Stan turned to Cory, who still stood next to Stan to his right. "Go ahead and say goodbye to your mother."_

 _"That's mommy?" Cory looked up to Stan, and Stan nodded in response. He turned back to Wendy, studying her features closely. He saw something familiar in Wendy, but he couldn't quite put his tongue on it. Still holding his teddy bear tightly with his left arm, he let out a shy, modest wave with his right. "B-bye mommy."_

 _Wendy came around the table and picked Cory up to hug him tightly. "I'll be here tomorrow, okay?" she whispered just loudly enough for Stan to barely hear. Cory simply nodded, and soon after he was let back down into his chair. When Wendy opened the front door, she looked back at Stan one last time. "Stan, I know things weren't really clean between us and...I'm sorry I ignored you and...you know, broke the promise I made. I did it because..."_

 _Stan waited for a few seconds for Wendy to continue, but she didn't. "Because?"_

 _Wendy gave out a long sigh. "My sorority didn't want me to have anything to do with your son. They're super pretentious about their self image. They think that if the other fraternities found out that I have a child, my sorority will think that other fraternities will think I'm just a slut and they'll never talk to me, and it will mean that I...you know...get kicked or something._

 _"That's awful," Stan replied. "Have you ever thought of leaving them?"_

 _"I have some really good friends in there, including Bebe," Wendy replied. "I can't just leave them."_

 _"Well sure you can, it's just, uh..." But then it hit Stan on why Wendy was stuck in her sorority. "Oh. Right."_

 _Stan stood up from his chair. Wendy came up to Stan and hugged him. Both could feel warmth, and both could feel their hearts flutter upon contact. "I'll see you soon," Wendy whispered. With a last wave, Wendy walked out the door._

 _Closing the door, she felt finally relieved, finally free from all guilt. But she looked out the balcony and she saw the brothel once again, staring out at her. There was something amiss about that place, but she couldn't quite put her tongue on it._

* * *

Claire Stotch crunched down on her Cheerios at a regular pace. To her, it was just going to be another day at school. No whining, no more drama than necessary, all would be good in due time.

"Butters, make sure you get that recipe book from Eric back. I'll get groceries for tonight." Lola, in her work uniform, waved goodbye at Butters and Claire while she carried four-month-old Hector. "And good luck at school, Claire." She then walked out the door and closed it.

"Guess it's my turn to take you to school today, huh?" Butters said.

"Yep." Claire took another bite out of her Cheerios then looked back at her dad. "Mom's taking Hector to grandma and grandpa, right?"

"To her parents, not mine," Butters replied. "Comeon, let's get to school."

Claire finished eating, got her backpack, and got into the passenger seat of the car, with Butters at the wheel. The car backed out of the driveway, turned to the west towards the school, and started going in that direction. While driving, Claire had a burning question in her mind, so she looked upon her father, who was busy looking at the road. "Dad, have you ever snitched on anyone?"

"Why, I have, but then I was beat up afterward, usually by Eric Cartman, why?" Butters did not take his eyes off the road, his face showing no emotion.

"Oh...um..." Claire panicked. She certainly did not want to be beat up, she could remember the times last year she was picked on. "Just hypothetically."

"A lot of kids don't like being snitched on," Butters replied. "I mean, they don't want to be told on for their bad deeds. It's also peer pressure. You didn't do anything bad at school did you, Claire?"

"What? No. I was just wondering."

When they got to the front of the school, Butters pulled up into the parking lot and stopped into a stall. As Claire took her backpack and got out, Butters gave one last wave at his daughter. "Have a good day at school!"

"Bye dad!" Claire waved back.

Claire went through the front doors to the school, and there seemed to be nothing unusual today. Children were talking with each other, some shoving each other. She went into the middle hallway where she met Leslie Donovan by a drinking fountain. "Oh hey, Claire."

"Hey, anything going on today?" Claire asked. "Did John find out about us snitching on him yet?"

Leslie shook her head. "No, he didn't even talk about it. I don't think he got called into the office yet. You know Principal Victoria say she was kinda busy right?"

"I thought she'd get it done sooner," Claire responded.

"Just wait, it will be soon enough," Leslie reassured.

As the two girls continued down the hallway, they rounded a corner and a few yards in front of them was Cory Marsh putting his own backpack in his locker. As he shut the door, he turned around to see Nikki Cartman standing behind him. "Ah!" After realizing that it was Nikki, he groaned loudly. "Ugh, what is with all these people standing behind me all the time?"

"Woah, woah, dude calm down." Nikki put her right hand on Cory's left shoulder. "It's just me."

"Every time I'm at my locker every morning, something bad happens." Cory's voice was whiny, although it wasn't surprising to Nikki why he's so stressed all the time. "So what do ya want?"

"I just wanted to say hi, that's all," Nikki replied.

"Oh. Um...hi." Cory didn't know what else to say. He couldn't think of anything to talk about, and unfortunately for him, it made things really awkward, especially in front of a girl. His mind was racing, trying to find something worthy of conversation, but nothing was working.

"So how's your day going?" It wasn't really a sincere question, it was just a way for Nikki to try to make Cory more sociable. It was one of those questions one would ask when two people want to talk but have nothing on their mind to say.

"A-a-alright, I guess." Cory was quiet in tone like usual. Obsessing over not sounding like a dork in front of Nikki caused Cory to stutter a bit.

"How's school?" Nikki asked.

Cory hesitated for a few seconds. It was one of those more personal questions, and despite her friendly advances over the last two days, he still didn't fully trust Nikki yet. "Just fine."

"Come on, what's your grades?" Nikki fluttered her brown eyes, a tactic she commonly used to try to get boys to open up. "Just tell me your highest grade if you're that private."

Nikki's eye movements sent butterflies to Cory's heart so all he could do is blush. As hungry for love as Cory was, it wasn't surprising for the aforementioned tactic to be effective on him. "B-B-B minus, probably borderline C by now." Cory's eyes shifted down to Nikki's shoes, afraid of her reaction. He felt ashamed that he wasn't doing as well in school as other expected of him.

"Oh." Nikki blinked twice as she folded her arms. "Sorry, I just thought that because you didn't really have any friends, you were...you know...nerdy but super smart, in a good way?" Nikki shrugged.

Cory shook his head. "I guess in my case, I t-truly wish that this is just like those stupid high school chick flicks from the eighties or something. Y-you know, nerd is bullied but becomes successful, and the bully gets his just desserts." Cory could never find anything he was good at, another reason why he felt inferior to everyone else all the time. "Oh, why does life have to be so real?"

"Do you ever pay attention to anything Mr. Garrison says?" Nikki kept Cory's face in her sights, but Cory could do nothing but look down at Nikki's shoes.

"No." Cory wasn't very good at being attentive either.

"I know Mr. Garrison says stupid things and horribly racist and sexist shit, and I get pretty annoyed sometimes as well." Cory could remember the times when Nikki used to speak out against Mr. Garrison, but eventually she gave up as Mr. Garrison was too stubborn, and her grades dipped due to being disruptive in class. "But come on, Cory, you have to at least try to pay attention in school."

"That's the thing, I just hate school, period." Cory shook his head. "I don't get the point of school at all, it's pointless. The teachers are annoying and boring, and the other kids here are especially mean."

"I know that the other people can be assholes to you, but you can't let them prevent you from putting an effort into learning," Nikki reasoned.

"I don't want to learn these stupid things," Cory retorted. "I don't get it."

"What do you want to do then?" Nikki was being increasingly frustrated with Cory as seconds passed. In her mind, she couldn't believe how stupid Cory really is, but she avoided saying anything that could offend Cory, after all, she knew he's not exactly at his best mental and emotional state as of now.

"I don't know, play video games, maybe read a few books - just - just anything to take my mind off these stupid, stressful crap." Cory's tone became whinier, which annoyed Leslie.

"Well sheesh, talk about someone being an entitled idiot," Leslie whispered to Claire as they watched Cory and Nikki interact. "I mean seriously, Cory is so stupid, I'm not surprised that he's easily manipulated by everyone else. He makes the other boys at this school look bad, and that's saying something."

"He's insecure." Despite Claire's short response, she did not have any strong opinion of Leslie's insulting comment.

"Yes indeed, you got that right," Leslie agreed.

"Cory, you gotta deal with the responsibilities at some point," Nikki said. "And you should see a counselor."

Cory thought he detected sarcasm at the last few words from Nikki so he defensively narrowed her eyes at her. "Um...thanks." The curt reply was followed up by a frown.

"Let's get to class." Nikki walked towards the classroom with Cory on her tail.

As the two left, Leslie and Claire looked back at each other. "Doesn't look like word has gotten out yet."

"Yeah, that's what I just told you five minutes ago," Leslie reminded. "Come on, let's get to class, don't wanna be late."

* * *

When morning recess began, Nikki was at her locker again sorting out her books and papers in them. When she closed her locker door, she turned around to see Kelsey standing behind her. "Oh hey, what's up?"

"Not much to be honest." Kelsey let out a shrug, not taking her eyes off the brunette girl. "Just wanted to say hi, that's all." Kelsey tapped her foot four times thinking of something to say before she found something that might interest Nikki. "Saw you chatting with Cory today."

"Yeah, I was." Nikki clenched her teeth, unsure of what Kelsey was going to think. She folded her arms in a rather defensive manner, ready to hear Kelsey express her well-known distaste for Cory, as per usual.

But Kelsey began by saying things Nikki did not expect. "It's rather sad, you know. He's super messed up in the head. He's like your typical airhead from those kids' cartoon shows. But still, I still hate him for what he did to me."

"I know." Nikki looked down at Kelsey's shoes, still folding her arms. Everytime someone brought up Cory, all Nikki ever heard were bad things about him, and the same backhanded insults at that. "Can we talk about something else now?"

"Yeah, actually, thanks for reminding me." Kelsey paused for a few seconds as her memories came back to her. She cleared her throat. "Toby Hoffman in our class is having a birthday party this coming Saturday."

"Okay, and why should I give a shit?" Nikki raised her right eyebrow at Kelsey. Neither girl had any true feelings about Toby.

"Some of the boys and girls were thinking of crashing his party," Kelsey replied. "Hear he has a swimming pool. You know, bring lots of soda, have a wild party."

"Woah woah woah woah." Nikki let her arms fall as she shook her head in disapproval. "Dude. Why are we trashing his place?"

"We? I didn't even come up with that stupid plan. I'm just telling you because I heard about it and I thought it's something you want to know." Kelsey rolled her eyes. "I mean, I know being a bad girl isn't your cup of tea, but don't bitch at me for it."

Nikki brought her hands out. "Who told you this shit?"

"I heard from Will Malkinson," Kelsey replied.

"Figures." Nikki had a hunch feeling that it was the popular boys behind the plan to crash someone else's upcoming birthday party, but like usual, Nikki wouldn't dare do anything about it, lest she be ostracized by her peers. "And I'm assuming you want me to go with you?"

"Hey, if you don't want to go, then don't, I'm not going to force you to do anything. Besides, I just find this funny somehow Toby and his friends don't know about our plans - I mean, the boys' plans."

Nikki was sure that Kelsey truly wasn't behind any of this. "Alright, I'll think about it, in the meantime though, uh...you know what? I just wanna have a normal day with you today."

Kelsey let out a genuine smile. "Alright. Me and the girls were going to play on the swings, if you're into that."

Nikki grinned back. "Yeah, let's go."

* * *

When lunch ended and lunch recess began, Nikki had to split from the rest of her friends to go use the restroom. After she was done, she rounded a corner, but as she got to the door to the playground, she encountered Sam, much to her chagrin. Sam wore a neutral expression, although so far, it was difficult to tell how Sam was truly feeling. "Oh...hey Sam." Nikki's voice was low, inwardly she wasn't happy to see Sam today, but she did her best to remain civil.

"You didn't tell anyone about me and Cory right?" Sam's voice was rather shaky.

Nikki grumbled underneath her breath. "What? No, I told you I wouldn't rat you guys out. I mean, I do care about Cory, but I'm not going to break our promise, jeopardize...you know, whatever's between us."

"Why are you doing this, Nikki?" Sam studied Nikki's frustrated facial expression, as if trying to detect any insincerity from Nikki. "I still don't believe you just woke up one day magically believing Cory is a good person when really you hated him just as much as I do now."

"I..." But Nikki couldn't tell Sam the truth about her true motives and how she really felt, especially after all the talks about her own father.

"It was that egg project we had like two weeks ago when he told you everything, that's my guess." There was no purpose for Nikki to attempt to lie, so she slowly nodded. "Well nothing is going to make us friends again, ever, so that's that. And honestly, I don't care that our dads were friends, because it's like you told me at the fair, right? Don't give a shit about what our parents did when they were our age?"

"Sam, are you listening to yourself right now?" Nikki could nearly cry at this moment, but she still managed to hold back her true emotions. "The fuck is wrong with you? Cory needs help! Why won't you do anything?"

"Because he hated me all along, because he told me to kill myself, are we really going to go through this again?" Sam impatiently turned his back on Nikki.

At that moment, Nikki realized that the entire argument that encompassed the last two days just went full circle and would result in a never ending verbal war between the couple. She let out a drained sigh. "I'm...just going to hang out with some friends."

"You go do that." Sam did not turn back at Nikki, he simply was the first to walk outside.

Nikki raised her fists in the air. "Unbelievable!" She then noticed footsteps behind her, so she turned around, spotting Kelsey. "Oh, it's you."

"I saw everything." Kelsey narrowed her eyes at Nikki. "Whatever's going on between you two...is it really about Cory?" Kelsey held her breath to contain the laughter she nearly burst out because it would have been especially poor taste for her to be rolling on the floor laughing at this moment. _Straight outta some poorly written drama...this is too funny, oh my God._

"It's just stupid drama," Nikki grumbled. Kelsey nearly laughed again. "The hell's wrong with you?"

"S-s-sorry, j-just..." Kelsey forced a few coughs to not make herself so obvious. "Nearly choked on water just a minute ago."

"How do you...oh, whatever, I am so annoyed right now." Nikki turned back to the door outside. "Wanna just meet up with the rest of our friends?"

"Yes." Kelsey cleared her throat a few more times. "Let's."

At around 2 PM, back in Mr. Garrison's classroom, the children all sat around bored as Mr. Garrison continued to drone on about his past self. "And so children, Member Berries like to bring back the good memories, but don't remind us anything of the bad. It's like in Rick and Morty in that one episode where many aliens disguised as other people tried to be a part of the Smith family, but they figured out who was fake because the fakes could only recount the good memories." The children who were paying some attention had their jaws dropped on mass confusion.

"Did Mr. Garrison try to relate a drug to a TV show?" Nikki was among one of the confused children.

"Dude, what is going on?" All Kelsey could do was shake her head.

"Ahem." Mr. Garrison narrowed his eyes at the two girls. "Nicole, Kelsey, is there something you two want to share?" But before anyone else could say anything the phone rang. Mr. Garrison went over to his desk to pick it up. "Herbert Garrison here...yeah...uh huh...oh? Oh really? Ok, gotcha, bye bye." Mr. Garrison then put down the phone. "John, Sam, Ricky, Fred, Will, Kurt, James, Calvin, Steven. The Principal would like to see all nine of you. Right now."

After two whole seconds, suddenly, Nikki realized that the only reason those nine boys would be called into office would be about Cory. Nikki's heart skipped a beat as murmurs and whispers began to erupt around the room. "What...this can't be...but I didn't tell anyone, I swear..."

"Tell anyone about what?" Kelsey asked.

Nikki panicked, realizing that Kelsey knew nothing about anything, and she was certain Cory wouldn't want her to tell Kelsey the truth. "Uh...the...um...party, the one you told me about during morning recess, right?"

Kelsey leaned into Nikki. "Yeah, you didn't tell Toby about people crashing his party right?" Nikki shook her head. "Good."

Both girls ended up sighing with relief, though for different reasons. However, Nikki remembered what is happening just now, and so it left her panicking again. _Oh my God, what is Sam going to think? He's going to think I snitched. But I didn't snitch though, but he won't believe me either._ For the rest of the day, Nikki couldn't concentrate at all about Mr. Garrison's ramblings about Member Berries.

As soon as the bell rang, half the class erupted from her seat. Nikki was among one of the few who took off running. She quickly got to her locker, grabbed her backpack, and got outside. She did not get on the bus today, instead, she figured it was better just to walk home. "Okay, Nikki, just calm down, maybe they aren't in trouble, maybe it's probably some teacher's award." Of course though, talking to herself was useless, and she completely failed at deluding herself. "Oh gosh, what the hell am I going to tell Sam?" At that moment, all she could do is cry, knowing what was going to happen very soon.

* * *

It was about 9 PM, and Sam, Kyle, and Bebe sat at the dinner table, although dinner was already finished. Kailey was sent to her room via request of the parents, as they wanted to chat with Sam and Sam only. Needless to say, neither Kyle nor Bebe were very happy to give this talk. "So you lied to us," Bebe stared.

Sam was rather panicked, afraid of what his parents were going to do to him. "Mom, I just-"

"You've always been telling us that you two were good friends, but now all it seems is that you were a complete jerk to Cory!" Kyle was already stressed from the yelling he received from Stan and Wendy over the phone. "Why?"

"I-I just didn't want to be friends in the first place." Sam was looking for anything to try to get out of this argument at this point. "And besides, he told me to kill myself!"

"Was that before or after you were hazing him?" Kyle asked.

"After." Sam couldn't lie to his parents anymore.

"If your friends are bullying someone, you don't go along with them, I thought we taught you this already!" Bebe continued. "What you're doing to him - it's just not right at all, what do you have to say for yourself?!"

"I-I d-don't know..." Sam was left speechless.

"I thought you two could be friends, you know?!" Kyle furrowed his eyebrows.

"Well, maybe, unlike you and his dad, we're just not right for each other, you know?" Sam tried.

"If you didn't want to be friends with him, why didn't you tell us earlier instead of manipulating him like you did?!" Kyle's question completely stumped Sam. There was no way Sam was going to win this argument.

"How could I say anything when you are so obsessed with treating me and Cory like we're butt buddies like how you and Cory's dad were? It's not twenty years ago!" Sam hadn't felt angrier at his parents in a long time.

"S-Sam, what had gotten into you?" Bebe's tone became shakier as she began to realize that her son wasn't the good natured boy she thought he was.

"Maybe I fooled myself the entire time, because I don't like Cory, there I said it." Sam folded his arms.

Kyle sighed, feeling nothing but sadness. He had hoped that Sam and Cory would carry on the legacy that he and Stan had left when they were younger, but the more he learned about Sam, the more he realized that it would never become reality. "You're still grounded, you know this, right?"

"Yes," Sam begrudgingly replied.

Bebe shook her head. "That means no video games, no hanging out with friends. Not until all this gets sorted out somehow."

Sam brushed his teeth, went up stars, changed into his pajamas, turned off the lights, and plopped down onto his bed. He was fortunate enough that Kailey did not attempt to barge into his room. As he tried to fall asleep, he heard a vibration on the nightstand. Knowing it was his phone, he picked up up to take a look at it and there was a message from John.

 _He's going down tomorrow._

Sam let out a sigh. Things were already spiraling out of control, but at this point, Sam had no more desire to partake in the drama, for he did not want to dig himself deeper than he already had. Closing the message on his phone, he sorted through his list of contacts, and his eyes fell on the name that read "Nikki". He tapped on her name which showed her phone number and other options. Sam let out one last sigh, and as tears began to roll down his eyes, he pressed the "delete" button, and no more than a second later, he was taken back to his list of contacts, although with Nikki no longer there.

* * *

 **Emotional chapter. Anyways, surely, I left enough foreshadowing for you guys to know what goes on next chapter, in the flashback and in real time. As always, do leave a review. Until next time.**


	15. Chapter 15: Battle

**So there were two reasons why this took so long:  
**

 **1\. Finals. They were hard, but I did manage to pass my classes.**

 **2\. I was overly critical of myself and this fic as a whole as I wrote this chapter. I was worried there's too much angst in this story. Rewrote things several times. I think I spend too much time on the TVtropes website.  
**

 **Anyways, without anything else, here it is, guys.  
**

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

 _"'...and so, in the end, it was Malfurion Stormrage who would weep the hardest at the bank of his brother Illidan's grave, with his wife Tyrande Whisperwind mourning nearly as hard, by her husband's side. Never forgetting the deeds Illidan, they, along with the rest of the survivors, will forever cherish the gift he had bestowed upon Azeroth: the gift of freedom. The end.'"_

 _Twenty-two-year-old Stan Marsh sat on a chair at the dining table inside his apartment. This time, he wore khakis, a blue dress shirt, and a red tie. He looked back at the cover that read "Warcraft: The Rising Sun" and still did not show any expression even after finishing the story. "Why is it that every children's book I buy ends up having a bittersweet ending?"_

 _"I don't know." Although Cory was still clutching his teddy bear, he was a lot more attentive than usual. The much flashier, much more cartoonish art style grasped Cory's attention for far more longer than the book read yesterday, which was "Dark Souls 3 Abridged," the latter having a much more realistic, darker theme._

 _All of a sudden, the doorbell rang, and this time, Stan nearly jumped up in excitement. "She's here. Your mother's here, Cory." Stan quickly walked over to the front door to open it, and the raven-haired beauty that stood in front of him only made Stan smile more._

 _Wendy was dressed far more casually than Stan, wearing a purple tank top, yoga pants, and flip flops. "Stan!" She and Stan drew into a hug and at that moment, both of their hearts fluttered as they took in their sweet aromas, smells both sorely missed for two long years._

 _"Wendy, I missed you so much," Stan whispered into Wendy's ear._

 _"I know." Wendy let out a soft giggle._

 _After two minutes of nonstop hugging, the two finally broke off, but Stan still had his hands on Wendy's hips. "Great, you're here!" Stan studied Wendy's entire body for a moment. "Love the look Wendy."_

 _"Aw, thanks." Wendy's cheeks reddened with delight. "And you...you obviously look ready for your interview."_

 _Stan took his hands off Wendy's hips. He could feel the fingers on his right hand tremble as he nervously straightened his tie. "Yeah, it's a big day for me. So wanna come in?"_

 _"Yeah, sure." Wendy came in and she smiled brighter as she saw Cory sitting on his high chair with his teddy bear. "Hey, Cory!" Cory only gazed upon Wendy, not saying anything. Wendy walked around the table and put her arms around Cory to lift him up.  
_

 _Stan clapped his hands together once. "Alright, so me and Cory already had lunch so you don't need to worry about him. His nap time is at 2 PM." He peered over to the refrigerator and at once a lump formed in his throat. "A-and there's not much food in the house." Stan's eyes then shifted to his arms where he saw himself scratch his right elbow nervously with his left hand.  
_

 _Wendy immediately understood why Stan didn't have much leftover food lying around - after all, she was still amazed Stan managed to keep Cory healthy and well by himself for two years. "It's alright, I understand."_

 _Stan straightened his tie once more. "Well anyway...I have to get going. Help yourself to anything I might still have. Um, yeah, so I will be going now."_

 _"Good luck on your interview." Wendy let out a sweet smile._

 _Before Stan could respond, Cory tried to reach out to Stan in his chair. "Daddy!" Realizing that Stan would be leaving Cory alone with the mysterious woman, he began to panic and cry._

 _"Cory, I'm sorry, but I have to leave." Stan came around the table to pick up Cory and hug him."Daddy has to leave for a little bit okay?" He brought his face only an inch away from Cory's. "I won't be gone long, I promise."_

 _Cory ceased crying for a little bit until Stan put Cory back in his chair. Then he resumed crying. "Daddy!"_

 _Stan could only let out an exasperated sigh. He was about to grab Cory again, but Wendy came between them. "He'll be fine, Stan. Don't worry, I can handle this."  
_

 _"You sure?" Stan asked._

 _"Of course, women are always good at this sort of thing, you know?" Wendy let out a chuckle as Stan looked at her wondering whether or not she was serious or just joking. "I'll be fine, Stan. You should get going, like, right now. Don't want to be late."  
_

 _"Alright." Stan backed towards the doorway. "I'll be back soon, and Wendy, thank you, once again, for babysitting Cory on such short notice."_

 _"Bye!" As Stan exited the apartment and closed the door, Wendy picked up the crying Cory and began to carry him over to the couch. She sat down, with Cory still in her lap, and began to rub his back. "Shh, don't cry no more, honey."_

 _"I want daddy!" Cory cried._

 _"Shh, daddy will be back, I promise," Wendy whispered._

 _It took about ten minutes to calm Cory down to a complete silence. Then ten minutes after, Wendy and Cory got out a Lego set and the two of them together began to build a spaceship for the next hour. During the process, Cory studied Wendy's features closely. Her blue eyes, her black hair, everything about Wendy seemed faintly familiar to Cory, but he couldn't quite put his tongue on it. There was something about Wendy that felt right to Cory. "H-how did you meet daddy?" Cory brought his teddy bear close to him as he stared at Wendy for an answer.  
_

 _"Me and your father met long ago, it was...when I wasn't much older than you are now." Wendy attached a gray cannon to the front of the ship._

 _"How old?" Cory asked._

 _"I was..." It took a few moments for Wendy to answer as she had to think back from years ago. "Gosh, it was such a long time, uh, I'd like to say I was about eight. So third grade."_

 _Of course, being two years old, Cory had no idea what third grade meant. "What's third grade?"_

 _"It's just a phase in school. You'll go to school someday."_

 _"What's school?"_

 _Wendy ruffled Cory's short hair with her left hand. "It's a place where children learn life skills and facts about our world, and a place where we make lots of friends. We all have to go to school, Cory."  
_

 _"Is school fun?" Cory asked._

 _"It is," Wendy replied. "I'm sure you'll enjoy school, you get to meet all kinds of nice people and learn to work and play with them." Cory beamed from the thought._

 _"So you and daddy both went to school?" Cory asked._

 _"Yeah, we both knew each other a long time, I mean I have went out with other guys in college, I'll admit that, but in the end, he's the one guy I know most." In Wendy's mind, she'd rather be with the man she truly knew for years. "Maybe I shouldn't have met those guys."_

 _"It's okay, daddy has met other women too."_

 _Wendy did a double-take at Cory. Slowly opening her eyes, she kept Cory in her line of sight as a feeling of dread overtook her. "Other...women?"_

 _"Yeah, but they come at nighty time and leave in the morning. I...don't know why."_

 _Throughout the two years that Wendy had separated from Stan, she always wondered to herself if she were better off staying with Stan to help him raise Cory. Looking around the apartment, the walls and wood are still in rather low quality, with little chips indented into the walls and doorways. It must have been why Stan didn't want her around yesterday before he finally caved in, because he was looking for a woman who wouldn't abandon him.  
_

 _"What woman did he see?" Wendy curled her lips as she looked back at her son._

 _"I don't know, they all look not the same."_

 _Wendy knew that if Stan had been sleeping around with different women, then there was no way he'd go on a conventional dating site or something similar - besides, Stan's circle of friends already know about his situation, and the only reason Stan's sins aren't as widespread to the public is because his friends are all also guilty of adultery and such. Without saying a word to Cory, she got up, moved around the dining table over to the window where she spied on Stan and Cory yesterday, and looked out the window. There she saw it as she walked in this apartment yesterday and today, - the brothel known as "Super Fun Time". As each second past, a sickening revelation began to dawn upon the raven-haired girl.  
_

 _"Holy fuck."_

 _As she moved into Stan's bedroom, Cory called out, "Mommy, where are you going?" But Wendy did not answer.  
_

 _When Wendy opened the bedroom door and walked in, the first thing she noticed that there were two pillows on the bed and the bed wasn't made. However, only the pillow on the left side left creases into the pillow making the shape of someone's head, so she confirmed that no one had been with Stan last evening to keep him company. With that said, she noticed a small, dark blue trash bin underneath a short nightstand that held up a lamp at the left side of the bed. She dragged the garbage bin out from underneath the nightstand and knelt down to examine the contents inside. There only revealed the horrors she knew but didn't want to think about - about nine used condoms were lying inside the trash bin. Of course though, Stan could have simply emptied that specific garbage bin at least a week ago or so, but it gave Wendy a good idea of how far Stan had fallen.  
_

 _For one, Wendy never thought brothels were ever a good idea, and as much as the U.S. President Fred Cruz messed up by making all birth control completely illegal two years ago, shifting things far to the other end didn't make things better. In her mind, she figured that lonely men would spend their life savings at those seedy places, and those places would also make infidelity far easier. Furthermore, she didn't want Stan to be like all of those other creepy men.  
_

 _"Wendy..."_

 _Wendy immediately jumped, turning around to see Stan standing at the bedroom doorway. "Stan...y-y-you're b-back already." Needless to say, Wendy was caught completely off guard from Stan's arrival._

 _Stan looked between Wendy and the blue trash bin and immediately he connected the dots, and as a result, feelings of panic surged through his heart. "No, no, W-Wendy, please don't-"  
_

 _"You're - you are a pervert, you know that?" Wendy stuttered a bit, still put off by the things she learned about Stan. "All t-that money and time...could have gone to Cory's benefit...and here you are fucking those trashy whores? Are you kidding me?"  
_

 _Stan couldn't believe what the hypocrisy coming from Wendy. "And what about you? Why is it that you get to hang out with other guys, but I can't hang out with other women?"_

 _"Because you have a kid to raise, remember?!"_

 _"Because you left me, remember?!"_

 _"This is still your fault, because you raped me!" That shut Stan up very fast. Wendy's continue on, her anger faltering a bit into sadness. "I-I guess it makes sense in context, now that I think about it. First you ruin my life, and now you're gonna ruin your son's."  
_

 _"Wendy, it's not like that at all, I was just...lonely." Stan's fists curled up. He still didn't plan on punching Wendy, but it was rather one of his habits when he got himself into a nervously emotional situation like this.  
_

 _"You and every other guy."_

 _As Wendy brushed past Stan through the doorway, Stan reached out with his right hand to grab Wendy's left hand. "Wendy, wait."_

 _"Let go of me!" Wendy yanked herself free of Stan's grasp before she continued towards the front doorway. "You're sick, Stan, I just...I just can't..." She opened the front door and walked through the doorway into the summer sunlight. She took one look back at Stan. "I don't know what to do with you anymore, I..." Her jaw fell shut as she couldn't find anything else to say, frustrated that the Stan she once knew became the type of man she despised.  
_

 _"Wendy!" Stan bolted out the door, only to find Wendy already disappear. "I'm sorry!" He backed in through the doorway, shut the door, and fell onto the couch. All he could do now is cry, knowing that it there was a good chance he was going to lose everything, including his son._

 _Cory sat on Stan's side. It was the first time he ever saw Stan at such a weakened state, and thus also sent chills of panic into him._

* * *

Needless to say, John Donovan was pissed this morning. He swiftly walked to school with his twin sister Leslie close on his tail. He did not look back, he did not look both ways whenever he crossed a street, and he certainly did not look down to make sure he was stepping on any gum or dog poop (which he didn't). He faced forward, and only forward. He did not show any signs of stopping momentum, and that was due to anger empowering him.

On the other hand, Leslie wasn't particularly happy at trying so hard to keep up with John. She could already feel her feet getting sore, panting with short breathing. "Well jeez...speed up more...will ya?"

John did not look back at Leslie, he simply continued moving forward along the streets towards school. "Shut up and stay out of my way today, Les."

"You kick Cory's ass...what are you...gonna do then? You'll...you'll still...be in trouble." Leslie was glad that the school was finally in their sights.

When the two reached the front of the school, they could already see the other children turn their attention to them, their voices decaying into low whispers. Taking notice of this, John grumbled beneath his breath. "That bitch had it coming to him."

Entering the school was no different. In the main room, the children here also were busy whispering to each other, but then everything changed when Nikki Cartman, and Kelsey McCormick revealed herself. Standing in the middle of the room to block the Donovan twins' advances, the beautiful blonde girl wore nothing but a mean scowl on her face, turning John's anger into sudden panic, his heart suddenly lurching. Suddenly, the entire room silenced, ready to hear the drama to come.

"You fucking asshole!" Kelsey angrily set her blue eyes upon John. "You're the one who told Cory to push me down two weeks ago?!"

"Kelsey, it was just a little prank-" John tried.

"Just a prank?! You call that a prank?! Nevermind you asking me out to the dance earlier last week! You're a horrible boyfriend!" The revelation of John's actions to Cory nearly brought Kelsey to tears. She could believe that all this time John had manipulated his way to her.

But John wasn't happy with Kelsey either. He didn't want to say anything about Kelsey's flaws because he didn't want to lose such a pretty girl, but now, in his mind, he has a reasonable excuse. "You suck as a girlfriend too, you know? You never want to hang out with me, always try to avoid me, I tried to be nice to you, I mean, you say you hate boys, like how can you even say that?"

Knowing that the conversation was going to be about her own flaws as a human being, Kelsey quickly decided to say the few words that would end the relationship permanently. "You're just an asshat. Never talk to me again." Kelsey quickly turned to Nikki. "Let's get outta here."

Kelsey and Nikki departed the main room, and soon, so did everyone else. But John still felt tense from the very brief interaction. He knew that within the past few hours, he was rapidly losing everything he once had. Then it hit him once again. Cory Marsh. He marched in the direction Kelsey and Nikki went, but not to meet with the other two, but because that same direction is where Cory's locker is, and John was certain Cory would be there at this time.

Leslie caught notice of John leaving her, but she knew that John wasn't in the mood for any antics whatsoever. "Uh, yeah, just go wherever, heh, I'll catch up to you in a little bit...I guess." Suddenly, a feeling of dread overcame Leslie, and she could swear she felt her stomach ache. "See you in class."

John turned a left corner to see Cory to the left side of the next hallway placing his backpack in his locker. Further down the hall were Nikki and Kelsey, but John paid no mind to the latter two - he had business with the former one. John moved quickly towards Cory, and as Cory finally shut his locker, and as Cory turned around, Cory yelped as John reached out with his left hand to grab Cory by the collar of his purple jacket. "You fuckface!"

"Ahhh!" Cory struggled to free himself from John's grasp, but wasn't nearly strong nor mentally composed enough, for John had the element of surprise this time.

John's brown eyes flared with fire, glaring down at the blue eyes of Cory. "You did this to me! I swear I'll kill you!"

"What did I do?!" Cory felt his body go limp from the pull of his own jacket, incapacitated by John's grip hardening each moment.

"You ratted me out to the principal, you stupid cunt! You ratted all of my friends out! And now you're going to pay at lunchtime, at the playground, you got that?!" John breathed down on Cory for emphasis.

"I didn't do nothin' I swear!" John threw Cory to the ground, and Cory' felt his back hit the lockers. "Please, don't beat me up! I didn't do nothing!" Cory then began crying, trying to get John to lighten up. But John instead left Cory on the ground and walked away. He walked past Nikki and Kelsey, but did not acknowledge either of the two girls. All Cory could do now is cry, knowing that doom was coming for him.

Nikki felt heartbroken, watching Cory at perhaps his weakest state. She knew that Cory would never stand a chance in a straight-up fight against John (she wasn't sure how fair Cory would fight, but she knew John certainly wouldn't). But Kelsey's next words didn't exactly sit well with Nikki. "They can both go to hell for all I care."

"Oh just shut up." Nikki also began walking towards her classroom.

"The hell's with you today?" Nikki did not reply to Kelsey's question, however.

* * *

During morning recess, Sam was alone at His locker sorting out his items. When he closed his locker, he walked outside to the playground, but in doing so, he met up with Nikki, the one person he did not wish to see today. Sam tensed even further as he studied her facial features. He could tell that with the frown on her face, her downward tilted eyebrows, and her brown eyes narrowed at Sam's green ones, he knew that there was more drama coming for him.

"I didn't see you at the bus stop this morning." Nikki nonchalantly said. _  
_

"My mom took me to school today. She wanted to give me a ranting on why bullying Cory is bad." Sam did not take his eyes off of Nikki. "I'm sure you know something about that, would you?" His tone of voice was still low.

"So what's what that's all about, huh? Why you aren't returning my texts?" Nikki folded her arms.

"I...um..." But there was no point lying to Nikki anymore. "I erased you from my contacts."

"I knew it. Sam, I didn't tell on you and I didn't tell anyone about you, I swear, and I'm sure Cory didn't either, he told me not to." Nikki took a few steps back. "I-I don't know who told on you or h-how someone could have known-"

"Save it, because you lied to me, I should have known you'd do this to me." Sam's voice was escalating, albeit very slowly.

"Sam, I didn't tell on you." Nikki accidentally bit her own tongue out of nervousness of the situation. She knew that the entire playground was beginning to silence itself, the other children gathering over to watch the show.

"Well you can cut the crap...because - because I-I know there's something going on between you and Cory." Following Sam's statement, the other children let out large amounts of cooing, sadistically entertained at the situation.

Nikki still couldn't believe the type of person Sam was becoming. "You know what, Sam? Ever since the past week, you've - you are turning into a real dick, you know that?" She briefly scanned the audience, noting that all of her friends are watching her, before re-maintaining eye contact with Sam.

"Yeah, well at least I didn't hide the fact John was behind it all from my own best friend, like you did with Kelsey! But yeah, go ahead and tell the principal!"

Nikki's heart dropped immediately. All this time, she was too worked up in her own crusade she had completely forgotten about Kelsey and how she would feel. Remembering the promise she made to Cory never to tell anyone else, not even Kelsey, she felt her mouth run dry as she was beginning to realize that in hindsight, she should have told Kelsey back in the beginning, or alternatively, never partner with Cory at all for the egg project and ask Mr. Garrison for a different partner.

"You didn't tell Kelsey, did you?" Sam's voice and tone lowered considerably as his eyes shifted over to Kelsey.

"Wait a minute." Kelsey stepped forward, now in the middle of the ring of drama between Nikki and Sam. Putting two and two together, all she could feel is a sick sensation in her own stomach. "Y-you knew?" She eyed Nikki with terror as the next words trembled off her lips. "Y-you knew t-t-this entire t-time - about John and Cory and pushing me? And you - you didn't f-f-fucking tell me?" It wasn't the first time Kelsey had been betrayed by those she used to consider friend, but for the girl she knew for many years to keep secrets behind her back like that, she nearly wanted to vomit.

"Kelsey, I didn't mean to...I was just...I was just trying to protect Cory from being hurt by John..." Kelsey's anger did not wane as Nikki tried to explain herself. "I mean, they're gonna fight...later...anyways..."

Kelsey silently backed towards the doorway into the school. Taking one last look at Nikki before pointing her right index finger straight at her, she could feel her eyes well with tears. "Don't even - ever fucking talk to me. Never again." The blonde girl slipped through the crowd and disappeared through the doorway into the school building.

Nikki also nearly wanted to cry, she knew she messed up so badly. But now wasn't the time to try to make things right when she was still too busy dealing with her boyfriend. She turned to Sam again, this time feeling nothing but vengeful. "Good job jackass! Do you feel like a jackass now?! Because I bet you do feel like a total jackass! Thanks a lot for making me lose my best friend, jackass!"

"That was completely on you! Maybe next time, try telling your best friend first before telling the principal, maybe?!"

Nikki was still disbelieved that Sam still wouldn't believe she never ratted him nor his friends out. "I didn't even...I never...Goddamn, not like you'd understand anyways, you...you...you stupid Jew!"

Nikki covered her mouth, realizing she had wish she never said the two words she had said now, and now she wish she could take it back.

"'Stupid Jew', huh? Really?" Sam nodded twice before spouting his own insult back. "Real mature, fatass!"

Nikki immediately gasped upon hearing the last word. The insult reminded her of the painful past she always tried to forget, and now hearing the exact same words from her would-be dance partner and longtime friend shattered her heart. Several "oohs" came from the audience. She gritted her teeth at the blonde Broflovski boy. "You take that back."

"Take yours back first!" Sam shouted back.

"Jew!"

"Fatass!"

There was an awkward silence between Sam and Nikki for about an entire minute. The crowd was busy whispering to themselves over what they had just witnessed. Then Nikki finally broke the silence as she began sobbing from all of the verbal mess. "D-do you even know me? D-d-don't you remember w-w-what t-things were like for me? Just hearing that word-"

"I want to know you." Sam let out an exhale and finally turned his back on her. "I guess I don't. And the next time I give a girl flowers...maybe I'll think twice." As he forcefully pushed himself past the crowd and stomped into the school building, he too wanted to cry, knowing for sure that he had lost not only one of his closest friends, not only lost his first girlfriend, but also broke the promise he made to her by never degenerating into a horrible relationship like Eric Cartman and Kyle Broflovski formerly had when the fathers were their children's age.

* * *

Nikki ate lunch alone this time. She was certain Kelsey would never invite her back nor forgive her. She was mad that no one would believe her when she kept repeating that she never snitched on anyone. As she was busy eating, a familiar chef came around to her lone table.

"Hello there, Nikki. Why the long face?"

Nikki was pleasantly surprised that Chef would go out of his way to try to comfort her, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't smile. "Things are really bad, Chef." She looked around and she could see that she was one of the only students left in the cafeteria. She put her head down.

Chef sat down at the table next to Nikki. "Come on, Nikki, you can tell me what's going on, right? Did you still not tell your dad about you and Sam?"

"Well the thing is..." Nikki looked down at her empty lunch tray and let out a sigh. "Sam and I broke up."

"What?" Chef exclaimed. "That's terrible. What happened?"

"You know how Sam got in trouble because he and his friends were hazing Cory Marsh for like the entire school year?" Inwardly, Nikki just cringed everytime she reminded herself of those hazing situations.

"Oh, that is terrible, I still cannot believe that they'd do such a thing to such a poor boy." Chef too felt sick to his stomach when word got out of why Cory really did what he had done. "I feel really bad for calling out his parents when in truth, the poor kid just wants friends, you know?"

"Well, Sam thinks that I ratted him out, but I never ratted him out, I never snitched."

"You at least tried to tell Sam the truth though, right?" Chef asked.

"He just doesn't believe anything I say anymore." Nikki threw up her hands in the air out of frustration. "I don't know what to do, and I don't even know how anyone else knew about it or who else could have snitched to the Principal."

"Did you tell anyone else about this?" Chef replied.

"No, and to be honest, it was pretty much how Kelsey is...no longer friends with me. Because I didn't tell her the truth." Nikki's head slumped further downward. "I fucked up, Chef, I really fucked up."

Chef patted Nikki's back with his right hand. "There, there, it's not all your fault. You definitely tried to make things right. And sometimes, things don't work out, although for future reference, Sam doesn't strike me as a good guy."

"Well I thought he was, but I don't know...besides, only me and Cory even knew, and unless someone eavesdropped on us..." Nikki tried to think on who would possibly eavesdrop on her and Cory AND tell the Principal. It certainly wasn't Kelsey, as she only found out today. Even if Sam or any of his friends did, they'd have no reason to snitch, in fact, they'd only threaten Nikki enough to silence her. And after a few moments of thinking, nothing still came to mind. "And besides, Cory wouldn't snitch or else they'd beat him up...beat him up...oh shit!"

Before Chef could say anything else, Nikki jumped out of her seat, turned around, and immediately dashed out of the Cafeteria, leaving behind Chef and her empty lunch tray on the table. She quickly made way to Cory's locker, who to her convenience was just closing his own locker. Cory took notice as he turned towards Nikki, his voice full of venom and hatred. "Nicole."

Once Nikki caught up to him, she was nearly out of breath. "Cory...oh, good...I didn't..."

"Oh now you want to talk?!" Cory's temper flared the moment he saw Nikki. His fists clenched and he could feel himself shaking from the anger.

Nikki had her palms out. "Cory, I didn't do it-"

"Shut up, Nikki! Shut up!" Cory attempted to use his left hand to slam his locker door shut with as much force as possible, but his locker door was already shut, so as a result, he only ended up banging on his own locker, causing the palm of his left hand to ache a little. "Ow!" But it made no difference in further showcasing his anger at the situation. "You messed up everything for me, Nikki!" Cory shook his left hand a little from the shock of the impact as he went on. "You ruin everything! Now I'm gonna get my ass kicked soon! Because of you!" His breathing suddenly quickened as his mind settled longer on the incoming fight. "Oh my God...they're gonna come for me...this can't be happening."

"Cory, please-"

"Why can't you - you - you just keep your stupid mouth shut?" Cory began pacing back and forth. "I shouldn't have trusted you, I knew you were going to sell me out like this. But this...this is crazy!"

"Cory, listen to me!" Nikki put her hands on both of Cory's shoulders, getting increasingly frustrated. "I didn't do it, I didn't snitch! I don't know who did!"

But Cory wouldn't have it, he too was becoming mad as well. "No!" Rotating his arms and shoulders, he moved Nikki's hands away from him. "You listen!" He took a few steps back, putting a few yards between himself and the brunette. "You - you just - just messed me up, you know? I don't even know why we were...whatever we are in the first place, when you've always been a bitch to me!"

"What? Name one time I was a bitch to you." Nikki clamped her mouth shut, as she just immediately realized that she had been a bitch to Cory far more times than she could possibly count on six hands.

To her credit, Cory was too frustrated to correctly recall a time when Nikki was mean to him. He tried to clear his mind and rethink of his past interactions with her, but all he could even think about right now was the doom he was going to face when he goes out there to fight John. "Just...go away! I don't want to see you anymore!" Curling his hands into fists, he turned his back on Nikki, and softly he spoke, "I have to fight him anyways."

"Cory, don't. He'll - he'll...totally destroy you in a fight." Nikki was rather an idealist, who always encouraged her friends (especially Kelsey) to do the best they could possibly do in anything they work on, but even she wasn't completely blind to the fact that John will completely obliterate Cory when it comes down to a one-on-one physical fight, not to mention an intellectual one either.

"Well what choice do I have when you went around my back like the stupid bitch you are?!" Cory never wanted to take something back so badly.

Nikki bit down on her teeth, her mouth closed. It wasn't the worst insult she endured today (that ended up getting awarded to Sam), but still she wasn't very happy at what she heard from Cory. "Get out."

"Nikki, wait-"

"Get out. Now."

Without another word, Cory turned around and walked away. Nikki leaned her back onto the lockers next to the intersection of two hallways groaning. "Goddamn, why the hell is Cory such an asshole? Guess it makes sense, seeing about the drama with his parents." Nikki, Sam, and Kelsey all know of Stan's and Wendy's pasts because one winter day at a Christmas fair, Eric Cartman told the three children about the drama with Cory's parents. Of course, the other parents were not happy with this, and Nikki, Sam, and Kelsey swore never to reveal this to Cory nor anyone else.

But then the laughter of two certain girls lifted Nikki from her crying trance. Wiping away the tears, she saw Leslie and Claire walk into the intersection of the two hallways, not even noticing Nikki's presence whatsoever. "You know, I gotta admit, ratting on the principal was a good idea, now I get to see Cory and my stupid idiot brother beat the crap out of each other."

"Leslie, are you kidding me?" Claire let out a haughty laugh. "Not to press your buttons, but John is going to win."

Then it hit Nikki. The entire time, when everyone thought that Nikki was the culprit, it was the two girls, one of which Nikki found an annoying bother, and the other Nikki had large amounts of animosity with. Not only did the two girls thought they did the right thing and get credit, but they also (unintentionally) smeared Nikki's name onto the walls, making Nikki out into a complete snitch and bitch. And so, the next second, Nikki was red with rage, redder than blood.

"You...YOU!" Nikki stomped over until she was directly blocking the path of the other two girls. "You snitched and now I look like a complete bitch because of you two bitches! Do you realize what you just did?!"

"Yeah, we're gonna watch two retards beat the crap out of each other," Leslie laughed.

"Leslie, how could you say that about your own brother?!" It was no secret to Nikki that John and Leslie did not take very fondly to each other, but she couldn't believe that Leslie could watch John get hurt for her own amusement. "What about Cory?!"

"Okay, hold up." Leslie held out both her palms to silence Nikki. "Just two weeks ago, you and Kelsey were just trashing Cory behind his back, and now you suddenly care about him? Something ain't right here."

"It's the egg project, but that doesn't matter, what matters is that you went behind my back and screwed me over!" Nikki shot back.

Every word out of Nikki's mouth however felt insincere to Claire. "Now hold on a second." She set her stone dead glare upon Nikki. "I don't believe you in any of this for a second, and that's because you and Kelsey always avoid me and talk rude and mean things behind my back!" Nikki's eyes widened, caught off guard by Claire's sudden courage. For the longest time, she knew Claire as a pushover, but now there was fire in Claire, and it's directed straight at Nikki. "You're always treating me like shit, treating me like a nobody. You're on to something, and I don't like it, and you're nothing but a two-faced bitch!"

Nikki stuttered for a moment. "I..I..." But who was Nikki kidding? She would never allow herself to be talked down to the Stotch girl who was so obviously beneath her, why should it be different now? "Well...well that's because you are a piece of shit!"

"Well any way about it, Cory and John are still going to fight, and I intend to enjoy the show." Leslie used her right hand to grab Claire by her left wrist. "Come on, Claire, let's ignore this trash and watch the two idiots fight."

As the two other girls left, Nikki angrily called out, "Yeah, just get on your high horse and walk away, will ya?" She grumbled again as she fell onto the locker behind her. "There's not much I can do now, they're gonna fight and that's that." As the words left her mouth, her eyes shifted over to the right, and from the other side of the hall further right was a door that said in the window "PRINCIPAL". "Actually...on second thought, nevermind."

* * *

Cory was shoved into the circle formed by the mass mob out on the playground, face planting on the snow. As he got himself up and brushed away the snow from his jacket, he looked up to see John stand a few feet away from him. His harsh cracking of knuckles, the inhales and exhales showing his hardiness, his enraged facial expressions showing hunger for blood, Cory knew that mercy was rapidly coming out of reach for him. For Cory, the only thing that waited for him was doom.

John took off his blue jacket and tossed it aside, revealing a white wife-beater shirt that exposed his biceps and triceps. His fists were in front of his face, clenched and ready. "Get up you pussy! Fight me!"

Cory slowly took off his jacket and green gloves and tossed it aside as well, revealing a white T-shirt. His muscles had less mass and were smaller than John's. He nervously held up his fists, shaking due to fear of what's to come. "I-I-I-"

"Are you gonna fight me or are you gonna stand there and stutter some more, you creep?!" John taunted.

"Yeah, I wanna see a fight!" One boy yelled.

"Come on you wimps!" Another girl yelled.

The word "creep" triggered Cory. But not only that insult, it was the fact that for the last two weeks, and arguably most of the school year as well, John had always played Cory like his very own puppet, and Cory was getting tired of constantly being enslaved. Therefore, as quickly as John's insult came, Cory rushed at John, reeled back his right arm, and squared John in his left jaw, causing him to stagger backwards and be caught by a handful of bystanders watching the fight. "Rahhh!"

The crowd cheered, knowing that the fight was on. John had to admit that he did not see that coming. But Cory was stupid and didn't capitalize on this, so John was able to recover from the blow. Raising his fists in front of him again, John looked off to the right and spat on the ground. "Lucky shot. Guess it's on, dipshit."

John and Cory restarted off by circling each other. Cory tried to go in with a punch with his left arm, but John dodged to his right. Noticing that Cory was to his left at a disadvantageous position due to his failed attack, using his left leg, John did a leg sweep with a clockwise motion, tripping Cory and sending him face first into the snow. The force of both legs making contact stung John a bit, others able to hear bones come into hard contact, but he quickly recovered as he knelt down, rolled Cory on his back, and attempted to punch Cory with his right fist, but Cory moved his left arm to his left, blocking the punch.

Cory pushed John off of himself and both boys got back up again, standing with their fists up, their eyes dilated with anger. Cory swung his right fist down, then up, doing an uppercut into John's stomach. "Die, asshole!" Cory tried to follow up with a left punch, but John staggered too far back so he avoided the blow. This attempted left Cory too far forward with neither of his hands protecting his face.

John capitalized on this by bending his left arm and elbowing Cory - right into Cory's left eye. The impact caused Cory to clutch his left eye, screaming in pain. John tried to move forward onto Cory, but he was stunned still from Cory's shot onto John's own stomach. "You little bitch."

"Get in there and fight, John!" One girl yelled.

"What are you waiting for, you idiot?! Move it!" Another boy insulted.

"I'm working on it!" John turned back to Cory, who still clenched his left eye. John was certain he left a black eye, but to him, Cory deserved it. "Now, let's end this."

Cory charged forward to attempt to deliver another punch at John with his right fist, but John grabbed the punch with his left hand and made a clockwise twist, twisting Cory's right wrist and causing pain to shoot up into his arm. "Aoowww!" The pain caused Cory to turn his back to John.

John grabbed the back of Cory's head with his right hand and shoved him onto the ground face down. However, he let go of Cory's right hand, so Cory rolled onto his back and delivered a punch with his right fist straight onto John's nose once more, causing him to jump backwards. If John's nose wasn't bleeding before, it was certainly broken now.

While John gripped his face in pain, feeling the blood drip from his nose onto his fingertips, Cory charged forward. "Fuck you!" he shouted, throwing his entire weight against John, trying to shove him backwards into the crowd.

But John firmly planted his feet on the ground and shifted his weight forward, and the result would be a never-ending war of reverse tug-o-war. They were face-to-face with each other, John could see Cory's swollen left eye and Cory could see John's bleeding nose. "You did this to me, you cunt!" John bellowed. "I lost Kelsey because of you!"

"You little..." Cory remembered Nikki telling him how dirty John was capable of fighting. Of course, that meant that he'd have to fight dirty as well. He swirled his tongue around inside his mouth to form some saliva, then let out a spit that splashed across John's nose. John staggered backwards as the crowd cheered on.

"Did he just spit? Eww!"

"Damn, that is nasty!"

"Is John gonna take that?"

There were a few yards between the two fighting boys. As John used his right palm to wipe off blood and Cory's spit off his face, he saw Cory charge at him again. As he was already bent lower to the ground, he lowered his right hand to the ground as well, gathered some snow onto his right hand so it formed a combination of that with spit and blood, and tossed the bacteria-infested concoction straight at Cory's face, blinding him. "Take that!"

"Ahh, help!" The crowd applauded at John's clever attack. The piercing-cold snow stung Cory's black eye, sending him in shock. Along with the rest of his injuries from his body that he sustained from pushing against John and getting thrown onto the floor multiple times, all he could do is panic and swing into the air wildly, twisting his body randomly. John tried to weave around Cory, finding a good opening, but Cory unexpectedly landed a good right hook onto John's left cheek, the jab piercing into John's jawline.

"Ow, crap!" John spun around twice before recovering. He put his left hand on his cheek, feeling the bruise. As Cory stopped trying to punch the air randomly and started to wipe the snow off his face, John saw opportunity for a certain attack many boys and girls alike would find extremely disrespectful - shoving his right knee into Cory's groin area was the action he went for.

Now normally, when two boys fight, attacking the groin was a very dirty and disrespectful thing to do, it was for men who are "pussies." Unfortunately for Cory, John had already proven his toughness before, and his main reason for fighting was revenge - he wanted to teach Cory a lesson never to snitch on him ever again, and no matter how pragmatic he had to be, he intended to demonstrate that lesson.

Many of the children gasped in horror at the realization of what John had done to Cory.

"Oh my God, did that just happen?"

"What the fuck?"

"Oh man, he must be pissed."

"That's hella dirty."

"Remind me never to fight John Donovan again."

"AHHH!" Unsurprisingly, Cory let out a bloodcurdling scream. He fell down once again onto his back, but this time, he could not get back up. His thighs brought together, clutching his groin, he was left open for the abuse to come.

Sam was in the crowd watching, but he could not get into the circle as everyone else blocked him. His heart too was beating, but because of the sight of what was happening to Cory, and once again he could feel nothing but remorse. _Oh my God, what have we done? What have I done? I know John doesn't like Cory...but this? This is...like Satanic or something._ Sam closed his eyes and looked away, for he could watch no longer. He knew that he should have put his foot down and stood up for Cory against his adversaries sooner, but it was far too late, and everything was now long gone.

And so, John did not hold back. Diving straight on Cory, he had begun by spitting into Cory's left ear. "That's what you get, for snitching on me! And this for breaking me up with Kelsey!" John put both his hands on Cory's nipples and made a twist, delivering the "titty twister", causing Cory to scream more. "And that's for being a pain in my ass all year!" John began throwing punch after punch onto Cory's frontside repeatedly as the crowd stopped cheering altogether. "And this, and this, and this, fuck you cunt!" They weren't watching two boys fight anymore, they were watching one boy torture another boy and try to beat him to death. Some time after, Cory stopped screaming and fell completely silent.

Of course though, the doorway to the school finally opened, and out came Principal Victoria, Mr. Mackey, Chef, the four fourth grade teachers Mr. Garrison, Mr. Gibbons, Mr. Bart, and the newest fourth grade teacher Mr. Uno, and finally Nikki, pointing her finger of judgement onto John and Cory. And due to the crowd's silence, John heard and saw them come out, and at that moment he knew he was done for.

"YOU TWO IN MY OFFICE NOW!"

* * *

At 2:03 PM, in the library, sat Sam, Nikki, Kelsey, Cory, John, Leslie, and Claire, each kid at separate tables, along with every one of their parents. The librarian was away, and at front and center stood Mr. Mackey. John's nose was broken, patched up with medical tape. Cory sustained far worse damages, more bruises than John, his left eye swollen. Fortunately for Cory, the nurse did mention he would still be able to reproduce, but should not strain his groin area for now. Stan and Wendy were as angry as could be. Kyle, Bebe, Eric, Red, and Kenny could only shudder at the sight of Cory. Butters and Lola had mixed feelings of the entire ordeal, and Clyde and Heidi weren't happy either.

"Gosh, Stan's kid looks like a holocaust victim or something." Eric's offensive whisper to Red earned him a hard elbow into his left hip.

Mr. Mackey, not hearing Eric's joke, recaptured the attention of everyone with a clearing of his throat as he began reading off the notes he took from the other students. "Mmmkay, so let me recap this if I may, uh, so Cory wanted to hang out with John and Sam, John didn't want Cory around because he was uncool, so he played lots of pranks, and as we can see from these photos..." Mr. Mackey pulled out the photos of the pranks shown to Stan and Wendy a week ago. "John hazed Cory into doing these pranks. He then found out Cory had a crush on Kelsey, so John made Cory push her down or else he would tell every student about his crush. Then Cory told Nikki about everything and made her promise not to snitch out John. Then Leslie and Claire got wind of this and told everyone."

Nikki and Kelsey both shot glares at Leslie and Claire.

"Anyways, John told everyone about Cory's pranks, he assumed Sam was against Cory the whole time, but Sam was only trying to be nice to him, but then Cory said some mean things and they weren't friends anymore. Then this week, Nikki accidentally let loose John's deeds to Leslie and Claire, so the two girls told us. Then John challenged Cory to fight him, and Leslie and Claire egged on the fight, so Nikki came to inform us about the fight. Then John knocked out Cory into temporary unconsciousness. Did I...I did get that right, mmkay?" When no one else said anything, Mr. Mackey only cringed and shook his head. "Gee, this is really confusing, probably some bad fanfiction or something."

Stan was the first to talk, and quickly did he do so. "Great, now can you expel that son of a bitch now?"

"Now, now, Stan, I can't have you all-" Mr. Mackey tried to say.

"Mackey, that kid nearly eviscerated our son!" Wendy clenched her fists. "God, I wanna kill that stupid kid of theirs in his sleep!"

"Guys, I didn't know about this," Clyde stated.

"Wendy, it's not like that," Heidi added.

"People, please-" Mr. Mackey tried to say.

But then the entire room erupted with mainly Stan and Wendy vs. Clyde an Heidi. Mr. Mackey tried to stutter out words but volumes of yelling overtook him completely. But then Mr. Uno stepped in. "Hey! HEY! SHUT UP!" That did got all of the adults to quiet down. Mr. Uno scanned the audience, the bald British man glaring at every adult. "You speak when you're spoken to, do you understand?!"

"Don't you have a fourth grade class to be teaching?" Eric's tone was rather snarky.

"My class is busy with Mr. Bart, now if you don't mind, Eric, I'd like to continue now without further interruptions," Mr. Uno shot back.

"Uh, thank you Nigel." Mr. Mackey straightened his glasses as he saw Kyle raise his hand. "Yes, Kyle?"

"You know what I think?" Kyle quickly looked at Butters and Lola, then to Clyde and Heidi. "I think Leslie and Claire have something to do with this mess as well. I don't think they ever liked Cory, so they did all this 'behind the scenes' stuff to make all this happen."

"Is this a joke, Kyle?" It was Lola's turn to blow up. "You're wrong, implying that my perfect daughter is a snake. Mind you, it was your son that joined in on the bullying as well."

"That's not what the Cartman's daughter said, you weren't listening, were you?" Bebe rolled her eyes.

"Bebe is correct," Red confirmed.

"Well you guys are crazy!" Butters spat. "Fellas' been watching too much cop drama or something!"

Eric found Butters' sudden aggression rather unsettling. "Butters, just chill. Seriously."

Clyde and Heidi fell into silence. All they could do is stare at their two children in horror as the other adults continued to argue. The children all sat silently, making eye contact with no one.

"ENOUGH!" Nigel Uno shook his head. "Ugh, I shouldn't have expected much from the bullies I graduated in the same class with." Inwardly, Nigel was horrified that the "bullies" from his graduating class were raising children this young. No one made any sort of snarky insult at Nigel, they were far too focused on their children. Nigel then noticed Kenny in the back with his daughter, who had not spoken a single word yet. "I haven't heard from you, Kenny. What do you think about all this?"

Kenny let out a shrug. "I'm not sure, this is a lot to take in to be honest." Kenny's eyes then gazed back onto Cory. Originally, he hated Cory, but within the past hour, the only thing he felt for Cory was remorse. "You know what, I'm gonna have to side with Wendy and Stan on this one."

"Even Kenny agrees with us, why don't you do the right thing?" Wendy replied.

"Alright, alright." Mr. Mackey stated. "Well, John, Cory, Leslie, and Claire are all going to have to get punished. Sam, Nikki, and Kelsey, you three are free."

Of course, Stan, Wendy, Butters, and Lola were outraged. "What?"

"Uh, their son started the fight, kneed my son in the balls, beat him into unconsciousness, and you're giving them the same punishment?!" Stan yelled.

"Zero tolerance policy on fighting, my hands are tied, mmkay," Mr. Mackey nervously said.

"Forget your stupid zero tolerance thingy for one second, and just do the right thing, damnit." Wendy gritted her teeth as she stared coldly at Mr. Mackey. "I know a guy like you would never have kids, but do you feel right punishing the victim just as much as the perpetrator?"

"Your son fought back and broke John's nose, might I remind you," Nigel countered.

"So you expect my son to just sit there and get bashed into a coma?" Stan pointed at Mr. Mackey. "What the hell's wrong with you?"

"Why is my daughter getting punished?" Lola spoke up. "What did she ever do?"

"She was involved in these misdemeanors, now my punishment is final!" Mr. Mackey stood up and gathered up his notes into a folder.

Wendy still glared at the counselor. "You know, I never liked you, and I hope you get fired for this."

As the library emptied itself, Stan, Wendy, and Cory encountered Clyde, Heidi, John, and Leslie by the front doors. Stan called out to the Donovans. "Hey! You!"

Clyde looked at his children. "Go to the car. We'll be there in a minute." As the children obeyed, Clyde and Heidi turned to face the other angry couple. "Now, Stan, I know-"

"What the hell kind of parents are you?" Wendy pointed straight at the Donovan twins leaving. "How do you two breed such shitty kids?"

"Wendy, it's complicated," Heidi replied.

"You two are awful parents," Stan insulted. "I mean, most of us aren't that good, but you two take the cake."

"Yes, we suck at parenting, okay?!" That quickly shut the Marshes up. Clyde let out a downtrodden sigh. "Our kids are like demons. They never listen to us, they just disobey us, they fight all the time."

"Sounds like you lack the discipline." Wendy blinked twice as she folded her arms. "I mean - you lacked disciplining them properly, is what I meant."

"We might have spoiled our children too much," Heidi agreed. "I didn't want this to happen, I didn't even think this would happen, and we're really sorry."

"We'll pay the medical bills for your kid," Clyde added. "It's the least we could do for you. I just don't want any...you know...friction between us because of the things my kids did to your own."

"Thanks." Stan slowly smiled. "I appreciate it."

"Anyways, we're off. Um...have a good day?" Heidi sounded rather nervous, not wanting to come off as being sarcastic.

"Alright," Wendy nodded. "Talk to you later."

As Clyde and Heidi left, the Marshes heard footsteps approaching. They turned around to see Mr. Nigel Uno once again. "Stan, Wendy, listen, I didn't want to see Cory get punished like this, I think it's unfair too. But I'll try to talk some sense into Mr. Mackey on your behalf, although I'm very likely not to succeed."

"Thank you," Wendy smiled.

"I'm sorry my friends and I gave you some trouble back in high school, you know, but I hope that's all behind us," Stan apologized.

Nigel took one last look at Cory. "Stay strong." He then left afterwards. Without another word, the Marshes left for home.

* * *

 **This chapter is long enough already, so I will stop here. I will definitely try to get updates out sooner (without sacrificing quality, of course). Finally, I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas.**


	16. Chapter 16: Number One Stunner

**Now that Season 20 is done, my previous fic "The Stick of Truth: The Great Journey" is going to be riddled with tons of continuity errors. Hell, when I started THIS fic, I never expected Heiman to be a thing. So this is what's happening: I'm not going to go back and edit every chapter in this fic to pair Eric with Heidi, because I'm too lazy for that. Instead, I'm going to make some explanation as to why Eric's and Heidi's relationship didn't last beyond middle school.**

 **So I'm sure some of you are wondering why Nigel Uno was in last chapter. In short, without him, Mr. Mackey wouldn't have gotten anything done, plus I have rewatched some of KND and it was as great as I could remember. Long chapter, here we go boys.**

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

 _Stan watched as Cory threw rocks into the waters of Stark's Pond, each time getting no more bored of the process than the last. Cory squealed with delight as he carried his teddy bear back and forth around the grass. Stan sat down on a bench, watching Cory, who was full of fascination. He could remember being as young as his son, with his parents Randy and Sharon watching him and his sister Shelly play at the Stark's Pond (granted, Shelly would periodically sneak in a push or punch on Stan, splash water onto Stan, or smash whatever dirt or rock structure Stan tried to build on the ground, and to which Randy and Sharon were completely oblivious of Shelly's bullying)._

 _It was sad that this could possibly be the last time Stan would ever see his son in such a peaceful state, more so see his own son in the first place. He had to be there for his son, but he was certain Wendy would end up having their life together taken away. And on that note, Wendy stood a few yards behind, watching Stan watch Cory play near the water on the warm Summer morning. Stan wore a white T-shirt and black basketball shorts with flip-flops. Wendy wore a light-blue tank top, black yoga pants, and flip flops as well._

 _Wendy did pass by the police station earlier, but she couldn't bring herself to screw over Stan. No matter how much it irritated her seeing the side of Stan she didn't want to see, she knew that Cory's only form of protection and emotional support was from Stan. Wendy wouldn't be able to take care of Cory without losing everything she worked so hard on for the past few years. She couldn't have her parents take Cory in, they were getting too old and are going to be up there in years. And finally, Stan's parents blamed Wendy for the pregnancy, Randy Marsh oh so cleverly calling Wendy a whore, and they would never forgive Wendy if she were to have Stan taken away._

 _But she couldn't leave Stan by himself again. She knew that in the end, he needed her as much as she needed him, and Cory needed both of them._

 _In general, Stan's and Wendy's friends were fairly divided on who's fault the pregnancy really was on, and whether it was rape or whatnot. Kyle, despite being an upcoming lawyer, had to stick up with his longtime best friend on this one, as he went through a similar experience with Bebe's pregnancy. On the other hand, Lola was an example of someone who wanted Stan taken away (Butters of course did his best to sway her from doing it)._

 _She watched Cory play peacefully at the edge of the water. There were no other children to disturb the two, and she smiled. Too many older parents were obsessed with their phones and social media, and the real irony is that despite Stan raising a child at a much younger age than what is socially acceptable, he somehow managed to bond with his child far better than anyone could. Wendy thought back to the egg project they did in fourth grade where she commended Stan for taking such great care of his egg, and in response, Stan said "Like I give a crap about what you think, Wendy." But then as the memory replayed itself, she frowned._ Wow, was Stan really that much of an ass to me back then after we broke up?

 _Of course, Wendy was too busy being nostalgic to notice Stan turn his head around. "Wendy?"_

 _Caught off guard, Wendy immediately tensed up. "Stan...um..."_

 _"What are you doing here?"_

 _Wendy walked around the bench until she was to the right of Stan. She noticed that Cory stood still peaking his head out from behind a giant boulder with his teddy bear, no longer running around and was now closely watching the two adults interact. "I...just wanted to say hi. Can I sit?" Stan said nothing but scooted over, making room for Wendy to sit down, and that's what she did. "I didn't tell the cops on you or anything, in case you're wondering."_

 _"Oh. That's - that's good."_

 _Wendy couldn't get Stan to look her in the eyes. "How did the interview go?"_

 _"It - It was pretty good." Stan still didn't make eye contact, only looking straight into the water. His hand movements were as shaky and awkward as his tone of voice. Stan didn't want to show it, but Wendy could see Stan tense up when she sat next to him. It was exactly like in third grade when he was far too nervous and self-conscious to ask her out on a date. Of course, after everything Wendy had said and done to Stan, it was fairly logical for Stan to be acting like this. "Not - not just my dad, I think they'd like having me around. And s-some of the people who went to school with us - they...they also work there."_

 _"Like who?" Wendy asked._

 _"Well, Wendy, there's your cousin Tyler Hoffman. And he's going to marry Ellen Joseph, even though they already have a kid." Wendy let out a chuckle. "Then there's the Loomis twins, Clint and Justin. Karen Anderson...and Hannah Hilton. That's about it." Stan finally lock his blue eyes with Wendy's blue eyes, but frowned as he saw her cringe due to the following names after the former two. "Look, I know they were obnoxious and we never really got along with them until like high school or something, but they changed when I met them." Wendy did not stir. "They also have children as well, so they're accidents, just like us." That made Wendy laugh this time._

 _"Oh God, I didn't realize how much outlawed birth control affected things when we started college, holy shit."_

 _"I think this is pretty tame, compared to the other crap we did when we were much younger." Stan faced forward to the water once more. Wendy noticed that as Stan spoke, he sounded less awkward and more natural. "Remember when we were kids pretending to play World of Warcraft, and actually fought a demon? Terrorblade I think was his name?"_

 _"Or when we were playing superheroes and we fought against a few kids who were pretending to be agents, something like 'The Kids Next Door' or something?" Wendy added. "I think John Vanson was there too."_

 _"Yeah, I remember them all," Stan laughed._

 _"We had a lot of good times together, even with all the other crap like giant guinea pigs destroying South Park, or Goobacks." There was silence for about a minute or so as Cory nervously watched the adults. Then Wendy looked at Stan again. "If it's not too personal or anything...does anyone I might know work at that whorehouse across from your apartment?"_

 _Stan's heart skipped a beat as he tensed up once more. "Well...there's Esther Stoley."_

 _Wendy frowned. "I thought she and Token were together. What happened to her?"_

 _"Apparently, Token left her when she had a baby with him. She works there to support herself and her daughter. It's really sad." Stan looked down at his lap._

 _"Aw, how sad." Wendy gulped, knowing that the next question she was going to ask could go either really well or really poorly. "Did you...did you ever sleep with Esther?"_

 _"Like twice, but when she told me what happened with Token, I couldn't do it again." Wendy eyebrowed Stan, wanting him to explain. "Basically, Wendy, in short, he's with Nichole Daniels now. You know her, right?"_

 _"What an asshole. He should have stuck with her and help her raise her kid." Wendy immediately shut her mouth as she saw Stan stare at her from the corner of her eye, and it suddenly reminded her of what she did to Stan. "Oh jeez, I really sound like a hypocrite now."_

 _"Yeah," Stan nodded._

 _"Stan." Wendy looked at Stan, and now they were making eye contact with each other. "I'm really sorry for blowing up at you yesterday. I should have realized how lonely you were - not trying to insult you - but being left on your own for like two years."_

 _Stan slightly teared up as he started wiping his eyes. "I-I guess I'm just desperate for a woman or something - I mean I've been so used to having you around - a-and..." Wendy could see that Stan was trying his best not to cry so she put her left arm around him and leaned against him. "...I m-mean you're right, everything was...was just my fault, and I'm just a j-jerk or something-"_

 _"Stan it's not your fault." Stan tried to turn away but Wendy grabbed Stan's head and lifted his chin, forcing him to maintain eye contact with her. "Look at me. Look at me." The outlines of Stan's eyes were red due to his tears. "I shouldn't have lead you on anyways and-"_

 _"I'm dumb confused love with...well you know, it's why I've been more around than I should have." Stan let out a groan. "Gosh, I am so stupid. I hope our son doesn't turn out like me. I-I don't know what to - to do now."_

 _"I know what I can do." Wendy instead leaned in to kiss Stan in the lips, and both could feel sparks fly in their hearts. The kiss lasted for about fifteen seconds and when they split apart, Stan stopped crying. Wendy's arms were around Stan. They're chests were only an inch or two away, and the only thing they could smell is the aroma of each other._

 _Stan rested his head onto Wendy's right shoulder as he brought his arms underneath Wendy's armpits to hug her. For the first time in a long time, he felt comfortable and safe with Wendy. "I miss you so much babe." Wendy's touch quickly calmed his nerves, something he needed._

 _"I miss you too." They drew away from the hug and repositioned themselves so that they had their backs resting on the bench. However, Stan had his right arm around Wendy, holding her very close to him, her head resting on Stan's right cheek. And Wendy was okay with it, she knew he needed her a lot right now, and she knew how much physical contact can strengthen a relationship. "You did a really great job handling a kid all by yourself."_

 _"Did I?" Stan asked._

 _"Better than I would have done, I probably would have panicked and freaked out or something." Despite being regarded as one of the most intelligent people in her graduating class, she knew Stan had a much stronger resolve than Wendy did._

 _"Then it's probably good that it's you who's getting the better degree then."_

 _Wendy nodded. In the end, Wendy couldn't thank Stan enough for sacrificing his future to secure Wendy's. "And I don't know if you're thinking this - oh what am I saying, of course you are." Stan looked at Wendy in bewilderment. "Well, I mean, if you think I'm not willing to...fornicate with you any day of the week, you're wrong."_

 _Stan laughed. "Oh...good. I could, really...you know."_

 _Wendy smiled. "I know you're really excited Stan, but first thing's first: I'm dragging you to see the doctor within an hour or so. You know, get checked up, cleanse whatever STD you might have gotten."_

 _"That would be very prudent, yes," Stan agreed._

 _They saw Cory finally approach them. Wendy sat up straight, breaking away from Stan and bringing her arms out. "Hey! Cory!"_

 _Cory nervously held his teddy bear tightly. "It's alright, Cory," Stan softly said. "She won't hurt you. Come here."_

 _"You won't leave daddy again, right?" Cory sat down on Wendy's lap._

 _"No, and I never will," Wendy promised. She hugged Cory tightly, and Cory squealed with delight. "I'll always be with you, and I'll never hurt you or daddy."_

 _There was a burning question in Stan's mind, and he closed his eyes as he softly, nervously, desperately managed to spit it out. "Wendy...do you want to move in with me?"_

 _"Yes!" Wendy exclaimed. "But I'd like to get us a new place, as soon as possible. I mean, we don't want to live across the street from...that place."_

 _"You're right, but for now, if you want to live with me in that old place," Stan said._

 _Wendy, holding Cory, leaned against Stan. "Yeah. That will do. Just curious...why bring Cory here? I mean there's a community park on the other side of town."_

 _"Well Cory wanted to see the water for the first time in his life." Stan watched Cory jump off Wendy's lap and run outward to the water to throw rocks into it again. "He thinks it's an entirely new phenomenon. Besides, I'm making sure he doesn't actually step into the water. And there's lots of memories of this place as well. Our first date in third grade."_

 _"Our first date, huh?" Wendy didn't try to hide her smile. "You really miss me, do you?"_

 _Stan's cheeks burned red. "Um, yeah. I kinda do."_

 _"Aw, that's sweet. You sacrificed a lot for me for my future, and I just want to pay you back somehow," Wendy said._

 _"Well, first step is to get your law degree you've been wanting, because...well not only are you the breadwinner of the family now..." Wendy let out a giggle. "...but also because this is what you wanted to do, like that time you showed me your diary in the fourth grade. And you should go for it, because my future is gone from me now, but I don't want my...sins to inhibit yours. So yeah, go for it."_

 _"Thank you, that was the sweetest thing I've heard from you." That made Stan blush more. "But we will need to help each other. You know, juggle around my school, your new job, and raising our kid. It will be hard."_

 _"Wendy, we fought aliens, giant guinea pigs, the government, Canada, TrollTrace, Terrorblade - who is a demon feared and hated by other demons, and a bunch of murderous adult-hating agents I think you said is the 'Kids Next Door'. We managed to take on more than we could imagine when we were just kids. I think we can handle raising a son of our own."_

 _In the end, Wendy was glad that she and Stan finally managed to make peace with each other. Despite everything that had happen within the last two years, despite the actions they did to hurt and betray each other, the family of three had finally managed to find the silver lining in the darkness they so desperately were looking for. Now this time, and for the last time, nothing would ever come between them ever again._

* * *

Sam Broflovski slowly ate his Cheerios this morning. He didn't sleep too well last night due to his mind being focused solely on the events of yesterday. Nikki did clear Sam's name, telling everyone that he had only tried to be Cory's friend, and in the end, his parents apologized to Sam, but reminded Sam to still try to treat Cory as a friend. Nevertheless, Sam still felt no less of a jerk, but on the other hand, Sam had began to realize that day that Cory is starting to reach the point of no return, and there's nothing Sam can do about it. Cory would never accept him back.

Sam's sister Kailey started at his inability to eat his Cheerios at a satisfactory pace. "What's with you today, Sammy?"

"Nothing." Sam let his left cheek fall onto his left hand. "I'm not that hungry."

Sam's mom Bebe stopped behind him. "Sam, you have to eat. I know you're not feeling well with the fight yesterday, but you shouldn't blame yourself."

"I know mom, it's just...it just sucks that I can't do anything about it," Sam replied.

Kyle, at the kitchen counter, poured coffee into his thermos. "I know it's not your fault, but try to be nice to him, okay?" Sam nodded silently. "I don't know what to say, I mean Clyde's and Heidi's children are worse than we ever were when we were their age."

"We were pretty terrible," Bebe chuckled.

"So...just out of curiousity, I'm not in trouble, right?" Sam asked.

Kyle gave the entire situation a thought for a moment. Everything that had happened could only make him shudder. "No, but you better treat Cory nicely, alright? I don't want you involved in any more of this stupid drama, alright?"

"Okay, dad," Sam replied.

When Sam and Kailey finished eating, grabbed their backpacks, and went out the door, they began heading down the direction of the bus stop. For a few minutes, the siblings walked in complete silence. Then afterwards, Kailey was the first one to speak. "Mom and dad told me everything about you at school."

Sam's eyes fell down to watching his feet walk the sidewalk. "It's...a lot to think about, yes."

"Why does everyone bully him all the time?" Kailey asked.

"It's a long story." Kailey looked at him, wanting him to explain. Sam sighed. "I suppose you want to know everything huh? Well, you know how boys like myself are supposed to act all tough and stuff, right? You know the saying 'boys don't cry'?" Kailey nodded slowly. "Think of Cory as the opposite of a manly man. Hell, he used to have a teddy bear he'd carry around with him. He got rid of it after second grade because others kept calling him a sissy and a girl, also because he was emotional and cried often."

"That's not very nice," Kailey said. "Boys should be able to express emotions as well."

"I agree," Sam replied. "And I know what you're thinking - it's some stupid cliché found in your average children's story, young boy struggles with his masculinity."

"Is that it?" Kailey asked.

Sam shook his head. "That's not all. He developed lots of crushes on other girls over the years - I think he's love hungry or something. How would I know? Well, I mean, others caught him staring. They think he's a stalker, or a creep or some sort. Me, I try to be nice, I don't bully him that much...well this year, I teased him quite a bit because of John Donovan and others, but before, I try to distance myself because I didn't want to associate myself with a...stalker." Sam blinked his eyes. "That's...actually a really fucked up word to call him now that I think about it. Plus, Cory's parents have quite the history together, I mean there's lots of drama between the two with the way Cory was born, so..." But then Sam shut his mouth right there, almost saying what he shouldn't have said.

"What's stopping you from just ignoring the bullies altogether?" Kailey asked again.

"Kailey, it's not that simple. It's not that easy to just - just ignore everything." A cool breeze swept through Sam as they walked, causing him to shudder. "They say school teaches you how to interact, but if you have a terrible time at school, well..."

"But those TV shows always teach us that the bullied children are the ones who will get far in life."

"And that's another stupid cliché used to make bullied children feel better about themselves." Sam gave off a long sigh. "Truth is, and this might sound bad, the way I see it, Cory's not going anywhere in the future, if things continue like this."

"Then why not help him?" Kailey asked.

"I don't think he wants me around anymore, I mean he did tell me to go kill myself so...yeah."

"How do you know all this stuff?" Kailey asked.

"Whenever dad and I have our father-and-son time, he would teach me about psychology." Kailey eyebrowed Sam in bewilderment. "It's basically study of the human behavior and mind. Dad's a lawyer, you know...so he would know some stuff about psychology."

"Sammy, you're smarter than the other kids at school give you credit for."

It was Sam's turn to eyebrow his sister. "Um...thanks. I...guess I'll take that as a compliment, yes. Uh...let's get going."

With that remark, the two met up with the two Cartman children at the bus stop, but notably Kelsey was missing. Nikki and Martin were both silent, not speaking a single word to each other. Nikki closely eyed Sam as he and his sister approached the other two. "Well well, I thought you were gonna leave me alone at the bus stop today."

"I thought so too, but I didn't want to." Sam looked around for Kelsey but couldn't find her. "By the way, where's Kelsey?"

Nikki looked down at her shoes. "Probably hates me so much she didn't want to be with me at the bus stop with me. Or ever."

"Hey, look, I didn't mean to ruin your friendship okay?" Sam then took his spot to the right of Nikki. "And besides, thanks for bailing me out of detention. And...I thought it was big of you to get the principal to stop the fight."

"It was the least I could do," Nikki replied. "I mean, I didn't really succeed. Principal Victoria didn't believe me at first, and Cory still got beaten up pretty badly.

"True, and besides: I don't think your friends are gonna like you anymore," Sam replied.

"Well it was the right thing to do."

The words burned in Sam's mind. He was getting rather sick of Nikki's self-righteousness, but he didn't have the energy to go start another argument. Instead, he stood silently, and so did Nikki and the younger siblings. Both knew they had to apologize to each other at some point, but neither could muster up the courage. And so they waited in silence for the bus to eventually take them to school.

"SHUT UP AND GET ON!" Ms. Crabtree yelled as she stopped the bus in front of the kids and opened the doors. As soon as Martin (the last kid) was on, the doors immediately closed and the bus took off.

Sam and Nikki took their seats, sitting together at the right side of the bus right behind Kailey and Martin. Martin sifted through the pockets of his pants then groaned. "Oh no, I forgot my lunch money on the table today!"

"Martin you idiot, how many times did I remind you, asking you if you brought your lunch money today?" Nikki facepalmed.

"Nikki, can't you give me some of your lunch?" Martin asked.

Nikki reached into her right pocket to pull out a five dollar bill to wave it in front of the younger kids. "Moron, hello? One, you can't split a five dollar bill, and two, we don't have lunch together anyways."

"It's okay, we can share our lunch together," Kailey suggested. Martin silently nodded.

Sam glared at Nikki. "You know, you're not that nice to your brother." It was rather ironic to Sam after Nikki's whole crusade of trying to help Cory.

Nikki, who was sitting at the window seat, leaned her right cheek into the window as she put away her five dollar bill. "The kid never pays attention to anything or something. If it weren't for me, if I wasn't alive or something, he'd be totally helpless and - or clueless. Besides, Martin can take the insults."

"Well I won't tell you how to be an older sibling, but whatever you say." Sam rolled his eyes.

About ten minutes later, the bus screeched to a sudden stop at the school. "ALRIGHT, SHUT UP AND GET OUT!" Ms. Crabtree yelled.

After the kids got off, Sam turned to the rest of the group. "Uh, I got some things to take care of. See you in a bit." Before anyone could say anything else, he entered the building. Going straight and turning a left, he was actually surprised to see Cory at school, opening his locker. Two girls approached Cory, and those two Sam knew as Linda Anderson and Kelly Leone from his class.

"It was pretty sick, seeing you get your ass kicked in like that yesterday," Linda taunted.

Cory immediately turned around. He didn't show any expression yet, but Sam knew the hurt deep down. "Can you go away?" At that moment Sam could see the damages Cory sustained, his left eye blackened and swollen and several bruises on his face. He struggled to stand up straight due being kneed in the groin yesterday.

"'Can you go away?'" Kelly mocked. "You're a pussy, hahahaha!"

Sam clenched his fists. He wanted to do something about this, but as quickly as the insults came did the two girls walk away. Cory shut his locker and then walked in the opposite direction - towards Sam. Sam reached his left hand out as Cory passed him to his left. "Hey...uh, sorry about-"

But he noticed that Cory only brushed him off. Cory didn't say anything, didn't acknowledge Sam at all. After Cory disappeared around the corner, Sam heard another argument from the other direction of the hall. He turned towards the source of the noise to find the Donovan twins John and Leslie up ahead.

"So that's why you ratted me out, to see me fight?!" John yelled.

"Cory still got you pretty good, and honestly you need to be taken down a notch," Leslie retorted. "Mom and dad's right about you, you are an asshole!"

Both kids were face to face. "The only reason you're so damn smug all the time is because our stupid parents always got your back!" As amusing as it was for Sam to witness the Donovan twins fight like usual, this time, Sam had something to say. As a crowd began to gather around the Donovan twins, Sam forcefully pushed his way though the crowd and into the circle. By that time, all eyes were on Sam. John turned his glare towards Sam. "What do you want?"

Sam folded his arms and raised his chin, taking note of the medical tape on John's nose and slight bruises on John's face. "Bet you feel like a real douche now, huh?"

Leslie took a few steps back. John showed a look of confusion and bewilderment. "What the heck are you on about?"

"You drag in Cory to fight you because you thought Cory ratted on you and then you knee him in the balls?" Sam stepped in to put himself between the twins as he faced down John. "What the hell kind of person knees another in the balls in a fair fight like that?"

John cringed, and now it was his turn to stammer. "Sam - I-I didn't - I didn't know, I thought-"

"If you're gonna mutilate someone like that at least get your facts straight before you do it. And you-" Sam turned to Leslie as his heart trembled with anger. "Fuck you for not coming out clean, and because of you, I thought Nikki was lying the whole time! Be-because of you, Cory got beat up!" It was all personal, to him, Leslie was the reason why Sam lost Nikki.

"Hey, don't yell at my sister like that! I know she's a bitch but-"

Sam quickly turned to John again as he stepped towards him. "But what?! That bitch is just as guilty as you! What are you gonna do?! Kick my ass?!" Sam grabbed John by the collar and shoved his back against the locker, still holding John. His next words were low in voice and tone. "You know Goddamn well you could barely fight Cory without - literally - breaking his balls. Hell, I'll break that stupid nose of yours far worse than Cory's ever done."

"So are you and Cory butt buddies now?" John let out a cough to his right side. "Not like you were ever a very good friend to anyone to begin with."

"You're right." Sam let John go as he backed up. "I'm not your friend, and you're most certainly not mine." He pointed straight at John with his right index finger, then at Leslie, then back to John. "You're both shitty people, and I should have done something about this a long time ago."

Before any more words could be exchanged however, a woman's voice called out from across the hall. "Excuse me?! What is going on here?!" At that moment, all of the children scattered, leaving only John, Leslie, and Sam. Sam's face contorted in disgust as the woman revealed herself to be Mrs. Beatles, his Japanese-American third grade teacher.

"Oh shit, it's her," Sam muttered underneath his breath.

"Samuel, are you bullying other children again?!" Mrs. Beatles said angrily.

Sam brought his hand together below his lap. "Sorry, Mrs. Beatles. I won't do it again." He rolled his eyes. He had Mrs. Beatles for his third grade teacher, and in short, he was one of her least favorite students.

"Don't roll your eyes at me and act all sarcastic, young man," Mrs. Beatles continued. "Get to class, now."

As Sam left, then. Mrs. Beatles, Leslie gazed at John. "Thought you were dumb enough to get into another fight."

"Oh just shut up!" John retorted.

* * *

"Welcome to detention, m'kay? You are here until 5 PM or until parents come and pick you up. Use your time to study."

Detention today was held in the library as it usually was. Mr. Mackey stood front and center, shouting his announcement to the students in detention. There were only four students in detention today, all of which were Cory, John, Leslie, and Claire Stotch. Each student sat by themself at a different table. For twenty minutes, the students worked on their math study guides peacefully because Mr. Garrison scheduled a math test for tomorrow.

Mr. Mackey carried a small stack of papers as he headed for the door. "Okay, I'm going to leave the room to run copies of some papers. If any of you leave before I get back, I will know, and you'll be in for it."

"But what if our parents come?" Claire asked. "You said-"

"I don't care if your parents come before I get back, you don't leave the room, m'kay?!"

As John lifted his pencil from his paper, he looked at both sides of his math study guide, and with a grin, he felt satisfied with his work. The subject came easy to him - he was sure he would ace the math test tomorrow. But now he was bored, with nothing to do. Before he could think of doing anything else however, he could hear groans from behind him. He turned around to see Cory with his eyes glued onto his own study guide. John could see that Cory was stuck on the first problem of the second page. Unlike John, who breezed through the study guide, the math problems seemed more complex than the first two hundred lines of code from a video game, all too hopeless for Cory.

"Oh this is bullshit," Cory muttered.

At that moment, an epiphany played inside John. He began to see that Cory truly had nothing, and now he could see why. He wasn't very good at school. He had no friends. And as much of a pain in the ass as Sam could be, he was right about one thing: he deserved friends no more than Cory did. Grabbing onto the edge of his own study guide, John scooted his own chair over to where Cory was working. He could clearly see the problem Cory was stuck on was one John swept through fairly easily. "Hey."

"Ah! What do you want?" Cory grabbed his study guides with both of his hands.

John gut tightened. He knew he had to handle this situation very delicately. "I know the answer, can I just-"

"No! You'll probably mess me up or something!" Cory, with his paper, backed away from the table, his breathing getting louder, his hands trembling. "Go away!"

"Cory-"

"No! You're - you're a dick! I hate you!"

Leslie didn't buy John's act at all. She assumed that John was trying to mess with Cory again, unfortunately. "Oh come on, bad boy, you're gonna have to do better than that, Leonardo DiCaprio."

Predictably, John didn't take very kindly to Leslie's claims. He couldn't believe that Leslie would assume John is a liar, but what could he do? Given his track record, it was no surprise that even his own sister wouldn't believe his act of kindness. "I'm actually trying to help him, just shut up!"

Leslie rolled her eyes. "Let's see: how many people have you tried to 'help'? I mean come on, John, even Cory's not that stupid."

"I said shut up!"

At that moment, John leaped out of his chair, vaulted over a table, and lunged straight at Leslie, both landing onto the ground. John was on top of Leslie at this point, but due to John's drained strength from yesterday's fight, Leslie was easily able to push John off of her. "Get off of me you ass!" She rolled backwards and stood up, putting another table between herself and John.

"I'm sick of your fucking attitude!" John went clockwise around the table and Leslie did the same. After a few seconds of failing to reach Leslie, John changed directions, going counter-clockwise. Leslie followed suit.

As John climbed over the table, Leslie slid underneath Clair's table. "I'm sick of yours!"

It was a vicious game of cat and mouse. John chased Leslie around the library and every time John got close, Leslie narrowly dodged him. The two went wildly throughout the library, dashing from table to table like a game of pinball. Watching the entire encounter, Cory sunk within his chair, not wanting to be caught amidst the drama, trying to keep to himself as much as possible.

If anything, it was Claire who felt compelled to do something about this. "Fellas..."

A minute later, John and Leslie locked hands, pushing against each other with as much force as possible. "What's wrong, bad boy? Don't have it in you?" Leslie taunted.

"I would have smacked your mouth if I could, stupid bitch!"

"Stubborn douche!"

"Snake!"

"Bully!"

"Liar!"

"Asshole!"

"Whore!"

"Idiot!"

"Selfish!"

"Moron!"

"Shithead!"

"Fuckface!"

"White trash!"

"Dumb hick!"

"Skank!"

"Retard!"

"Cunt!"

"Autist!"

"I hate you!"

"I hope you die!"

"You're a shitty sister and should have been aborted!"

"Oh don't worry, you faggot, I feel the same way about you too!"

Just then, Mr. Mackey came into the room with stacks of papers. Hearing the shouting as well as seeing the twins against each other, he dropped the stacks of papers on his desk and glared down upon all four children, lungs burning with anger. "ENOUGH! I CAN'T LEAVE FOR TEN MINUTES BEFORE ALL THIS SHIT HAPPENS?!" That, of course, made John and Leslie fall silent and back away from each other.

Of course, Claire couldn't take it anymore either. Not only could she not concentrate on her work, but seeing siblings fight didn't sit well with her. "Well I have something to say, if I may, Mr. Mackey?" At this moment, Claire knew all eyes were on her. Mr. Mackey shook his head, but remained silent, eyeing down Claire like a hawk. "Don't you see what's going on here?"

"He's being sexist!" Leslie shouted.

"Well you went behind my back and fucked my friends over, and now you're just being a...you know!" John shot back.

Claire shook her head. "Well like it or not, you fellas are twins, related by blood, and Goddamn is that a bond that deserves to be respected!" Claire let off a saddened sigh, followed by a frown. "Being a twin is a great gift and shouldn't be squandered and I wish I were fortunate enough to have a sibling."

"Don't you have a brother?" Leslie asked.

"Yeah, but Hector's just four months old." Claire looked at Leslie. "Leslie, explain why you don't like John."

"Oh come on, what about-"

"Shush John, I'll let you explain after Leslie's done." Claire stared as Leslie stood still in silence for thirty seconds. "Well? Should I just move on-"

"Wait!" Everyone fell silent again as Leslie's eyes burned with tears. "Do you want to know why I give John such a hard time? It's because you're mean to me, John!" Leslie wiped away some of her tears. "You're sexist, you always used to call me a 'cruddy girl', or well I suppose now you just call me a cunt. You're rude, you never do what mom and dad say, like - they fucking had us when they were twenty, couldn't have access to birth control because Fred Cruz was fuckin' stupid, and yet you treat them like the inconsiderate shit you are! Do you even know what having a baby - no, twins - like when you're supposed to graduate college? Hell they didn't even graduate college - for us, and yet it's all...it's all you! You clearly take everything for granted and yet you feel entitled to act like those obnoxious bad boys from those stupid teen dramas Kelsey and Nikki always make watch because they're stupid just like you, and I hate them as much as I hate you, but I just pretend to put up with them just like how I pretend to put up with you." Leslie sniffled for a few seconds. "I guess I don't deserve anything good, just because...you know it's me."

Mr. Mackey was still silent. Claire yawned. "Well I agree about Nikki and Kelsey, but let's save that talk for later." She then turned to John. "Now John, your turn."

As Leslie continued to weep, John folded his hands together below his lap and looked down on the floor. "I'm mean because...I just hate everything, and I guess I'm just angry all the damn time." John sighed. "And honestly, I am jealous of you, Leslie, because you get nothing but praise, even though I am doing better in school than you, I'm not trying to put you down." Leslie still had eye contact on John. "Apparantly I'm a disappointment because I have a B in history, even though I'm pulling all A's in everything else, and don't even get me started on chores, they always have stupidly high expectations of me, like I'm not in the fucking military! They always tell me I have to be a real man!"

"S-so all this...was just a way to get attention from them?" The more Leslie thought about it, the more it made sense. John desperately wanted to be rewarded but could never please Clyde and Heidi, so John saw there was no reason to be a good person. "John, I'm so sorry..."

John looked up at Leslie now. "But the more I rebel...the more I realize we should be in charge of our own destiny. I mean, that's what that show Kids Next Door taught us, to be a kid. Leslie, Claire, you both complain all the time about Kelsey and how mean she is, but do either of you have the balls to just take control for once? Because at some point you have to put your foot down and say NO!"

Leslie cleared away the tears from her eyes with her left hand. "I-I think I get it now. But it was still wrong of you to just pick on others like that."

"Well it's a tough world, and it's not sunshine and rainbows all the time." John gazed upon Mr. Mackey, who still stood expressionless, then focused back on the other children. "We're just two...three kids trying to survive in a shitty town - with shitty influences for parents."

"Parents who got screwed over by a bill banning birth control."

"But they're not all good, the parents I mean...anyways, thanks Claire, for helping us." John sighed and scratched the back of his neck.

"No problem, John," Claire beamed.

"And I have something else to say." He turned to Cory. "Cory, I'm sorry I beat you up yesterday. And...I want to make it up to you by helping you on your study guide."

But Cory backed away, glaring at the other three. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. To him, it was three people with no conscience suddenly acting all kind. It was watching three people act one way in public but different in private. "No! Screw this! You're lying, John! You're always lying!"

Leslie shook her head. "Cory, he's not-"

Cory brought his study guide close to his chest and gritted his teeth. "He's just gonna mess me up somehow, he always does!"

Claire clenched her fists - how stubborn could that boy be? "Now you listen here, Cory! I believe John, and he's trying to make things up, and if you don't forgive him, then you're no better than a bully!"

"I'm the bully?" Cory got up and stood on top of a table. "I got my balls kicked in, nearly castrate me, had spit in my ear, my depth perception sucks right now-" Cory pointed to his left eye, still blackened and swollen, then pointed to the rest of the children, "-and I'm the bad guy here? There's no way I'm forgiving you for any of this, fuck you idiots!"

Mr. Mackey got around his desk and pointed straight at Cory. "Cory Marsh, you get off the desk and you apologize young man for the insults and language, m'kay?! I have had it with you with your immature behavior!"

"No!" It was Cory's turn to create tears now. "Because I'm just always the bad guy, right?! All of you...all of you just...twist shit around to turn me into the bad guy!"

Mr. Mackey nodded for a moment, then pointed at John, Leslie, and Claire. "Because you three have learned a valueable lesson about respecting family, you three are excused." Mr. Mackey then pointed at Cory. "You, however, are to stay until 5, no exceptions!"

"But that's not fair! Ugh!" Cory threw his incomplete study guide onto his desk as he wept some more as Claire, John, and Leslie gathered their backpacks and work they have completed, and after a minute later left the library to return home. "This is bullshit!"

"The problem here is that you are vulgar and too immature! You do not know how to forgive, so I will call Principal Victoria to have her punish you some more!" Mr. Mackey walked to the front desk, picked up the telephone, and dialed the numbers. As Cory sat there, Mr. Mackey began speaking into the phone angrily. "Hello, Victoria? Yeah, Cory Marsh is being immature, and he's just being jelly I let the others go, so I want you to come in here and teach him about forgiveness, m'kay?" A few seconds passed. "Right." Mr. Mackey then put the phone down. "I almost should have sent you off to jelly school just now!"

"T-t-t-that's a school with j-jelly donuts right?" Cory started to wipe away the tears. "B-because I do love jelly donuts."

Just then, the door opened and in came a petite Japanese-American woman. It was Mrs. Beatles from earlier, and on her face was a disapproving frown. While Cory didn't have her for third grade (he had Jim Morris instead), he knew of her because Sam, Nikki, and Kelsey was in her class. "I saw everything from outside, Mackey." She folded her arms. "What possessed you to let go of those children like that and not him?" She pointed at Cory. "Don't you see how hurt he is?"

"Well that's what he gets for not learning forgiveness, Kuki!"

But the Asian woman was not convinced at all, in her mind, she never saw anything stupider than this in her life. "You're a real charmer, you know that, Mackey?" Just then, Principal Victoria appeared through the doorway. "Oh good, just in time."

Principal Victoria looked at Cory first. "You're free to go home, Marsh, I'm so sorry about all this." She then glared at Mr. Mackey. "As for you, it's time we talk. In my office. Now!"

As Victoria and Mackey left the library, Cory gathered his black backpack along with the rest of his belongings and swung his backpack onto his right shoulder. "Well I hope his ass gets fired."

Mrs. Beatles followed Cory out. "By the way, you ought to watch the language, you do swear a lot."

"Sorry, but this is just...stupid, you know?" Cory stopped in the middle of the hall and looked back at the teacher. "Why'd you help me?"

"Well, I heard of your mother's complaints against him, and honestly, she is right." Kuki let out a sigh. "I mean, we didn't really get along in high school, but I do see eye to eye with her in this case."

"Um...thanks, I guess." Cory wiped his eyes until they were completely clear of tears. "I'm gonna go home now."

"Cory?" Kuki asked.

"Hm?" Cory turned back to the older teacher.

"I'd be careful of Kelsey McCormick by the way, just saying."

Cory nodded back at the teacher. "Alright."

Kuki let out a smile. "Take care."

* * *

For dinner, the Donovans ate spaghetti with meat sauce and broccoli at the dinner table. Clyde and Heidi went about their dinners at a rather slow pace while Leslie and John were eating much faster. Clyde nudged at the meat-covered spaghetti with his fork while Heidi let a few loose strings hang from her own fork.

"Thank you kids for making us dinner." Heidi let the noodles fall off her fork as she stabbed a piece of broccoli. "The broccoli was nice, Leslie." Leslie hung her mouth open in shock, eyebrowing her mother cautiously.

"Yeah, but the meat is a bit burnt. You overcooked the meat, John." Heidi nodded at Clyde in agreement with his comment.

John glared at Clyde. "Uh, I cooked the broccoli, dad."

Leslie raised her right hand. "And I cooked the meat, I burnt it, sorry." A silence swept through the dinner table as Clyde and Heidi gazed at each other in awkwardness. "Why did you assume John cooked the ground beef?"

"Um..." Clyde and Heidi looked at each other, stumbling for words, but nothing coherent could come out from either of the parents.

John folded his arms. "Leslie and I had a talk today. And we both think that you're not being fair to me. You always assume that I'm the one making mistakes, and that Leslie can never do anything wrong."

"And why is everyone always assuming I can do everything perfectly? Like I can just get away with bullshit all the time..." Leslie flashed a silly smile as she scratched the back of her head, "...okay, maybe I shouldn't have said that using my exact words, but you get my point."

"Oh boy." Heidi let out a sigh. "I-I didn't realize-"

"Well you did," John interrupted. "And it's not cool."

"Well we're sorry, okay?" Clyde's apology didn't convince John however, as John stubbornly lifted his chin and looked off to his left side towards the ceiling. "John, I didn't mean for this."

"A lot of drama happened at school, and I don't need you coming home and reminding me of why Leslie's so much better than me all the time." John let out a sigh. "I'm also sorry...for beating up Cory too."

"Did you at least try to talk to him?" Heidi asked.

"I tried, but he went cuckoo and thought I was a liar," John replied.

Leslie nodded as she turned to her mother. "I was there by the way. And yes, John is telling the truth."

"Heidi, you know kids their age, they're not easily forgiving, their heads aren't always in the right place." Clyde then patted John's back. "But I'm glad you tried. And we'll try to treat you better."

"More equal," John reminded.

"Yes." Heidi smiled. "More equal."

After dinner was finished, Leslie came by John's room in the upstairs hallway and knocked three times on it. John's voice rang through the door. "Hello?"

"It's me," Leslie spoke softly into the door.

"Come in, it's unlocked." Leslie opened the door to find John at his bedside reading the math equations from his study guide. "I don't know what everyone else in class is saying, these problems seem super easy, I don't even think I need to study." He shoved the study guide back into his backpack. "Anyways, what's up?"

"I've been thinking...of ditching my friends." John sat up and Leslie sat down next to John on his left. "I mean, I kind of made it obvious I don't really care about them anymore except Claire, and I think they don't really like me either."

"I just do whatever. Find friends you think will fit you." John looked at the doorway.

"Well I'm just wondering, should I leave them?" Leslie asked.

"You know I can't force you to do anything, it's really up to you to make the right choice, and I guess it's just whether we're lucky or not in the end." John let out a yawn. "To be honest, I'm thinking of leaving my friends too."

"This is actually scary to think about." John nodded in agreement with Leslie. "You know, do you ever thing Cory's...alright in the head?"

John eyebrowed Leslie curiously. "I don't think he has a mental disability, if that's what you're implying."

"I'm saying maybe it's best we just leave him be, like just not do anything to him," Leslie clarified.

"Yeah, you're right. We can't force everyone else to cooperate. But we both can at least try." John's content face slowly formed a smile.

For the rest of the evening, the twins went on to chat about sports and video games.

* * *

 **So this chapter turned out to be a lot longer than I originally planned.**

 **John Vanson belongs to JVM-SP150. Expect to see more of him in the coming future.  
**

 **The verbal fight between John and Leslie was inspired by a dota 2 fanfic about Juggernaut and Crystal Maiden. I pretty much shortened it a lot and fit it into the context of South Park, but you could see the inspirations.**

 **Speaking about inspirations, I've received word that someone had plagiarized the first chapter of my story. Normally I don't have a problem if it's like one or a few lines well integrated into your story, but this guy copied my entire chapter, changed around the names, then pretended its his own work. Honestly, if you have to stoop that low to steal someone else's work without permission and pretend for it to be yours, that's just not cool. Of course, I will not mention any names, except for the fact it was (of course) ric122.**


	17. Chapter 17: Sanity Eclipsed

**This chapter gave me a lot of trouble, between rewriting the flashback and trying to avoid plot holes, and the drama, also due to me starting school again. Probably the first chapter I feel like I've actually rushed, and I feel rather awful publishing.**

 **Please write your reviews as if you're actually reviewing my story, and not use my review section to flame me or anyone else on FFnet. I will remove those reviews.  
**

 **All canon characters belong to M &T, John Vanson belongs to JVM-SP150.**

* * *

 **Chapter 17**

 _Twenty-four-year-olds Stan and Wendy lied in bed early in the morning. The bedroom still remained dark with only a hint of sunlight leaking through the curtains as the winter morning sun has barely peaked over the horizon, while the two adults giggled underneath the blankets and bedsheets, articles of clothing and undergarments thrown randomly around the floor in no coherent pattern. Wendy buried her face into Stan's neck and wrapped her left arm around Stan's body, while Stan had his right hand touching the back of Wendy's head as he kissed her in the forehead. They could feel their hearts flutter as they comforted themselves in the resting position.  
_

 _"You're taking Cory to the Christmas park today?" Wendy's voice flowed softly into Stan's ears.  
_

 _Stan nodded his head. "Mhmm. And you have your trial today?"  
_

 _"Yep, and my version of winning is making sure my client stays out of death row."_

 _That sparked curiosity from Stan. He was used to seeing Wendy in a winning spirit, but in this case, she had to have a client who is a scumbag in particular. "Who are you a lawyer for?"_

 _"I can't tell you Stan, you know this. I'll be in trouble." Trent Boyette has had a history of being a serial killer. After his fourteenth murder, he was finally caught. The amount of evidence against Trent was fairly damning, and keeping him out of death row would be an uphill battle for Wendy.  
_

 _"Oh, alright. Well the other friends of ours are attending," Stan said._

 _"You're not talking about my sorority, are you?" Wendy asked._

 _"No, it's our friends from high school. You know, Kyle, Bebe, the likes."_

 _"Too bad I'll miss it, my stupid trial is today. I wish they postponed the damn thing, like who does this during the day before Christmas?" Wendy scoffed as she shook her head. "These people are crazy."_

 _"Hey, look on the bright side: you can show that dumb judge you're the boss that much sooner."_

 _Wendy giggled. "You do have a way of encouragement."_

* * *

 _At Stark's Pond were people from all around town, as well as some visitors from nearby Colorado towns and cities, such as Middle Park, North Park, and even Denver, came to attend the fair. Tents and structures of tarp were erected in the wake of the people to serve mostly as a cheap form of entertainment such as shooting and throwing games, rides such as roller coasters and a giant Ferris wheel, a drop tower, and several places to eat. And in the middle of it all was a giant Christmas tree._

 _Twenty-three-year-old Eric Cartman stood overlooking a small cliff along with four-year-old Nikki Cartman, four-year-old Samuel Broflovski, and three-year-old Kelsey McCormick. "...so yeah, Stan raped Wendy, and that's how Cory came about. It's actually a pretty funny story." The three other children just stared at Eric. They had some idea of what Eric was on to, but they had no idea of the feelings of the situation at hand._

 _Red, currently pregnant, walked up to Eric, wearing a scowl on his face. "Eric, can I talk to you? Like now." Before Eric could protest, Red took Eric by his jacket and pulled him a distance away from the other children, enough so that they wouldn't hear. "Okay, what the hell?!"_

 _"'What the hell' what?" Eric only shrugged his shoulders. "I was just telling the children a story. They wanted drama, so I gave them drama."_

 _"You weren't supposed to tell the children that!" Red groaned, and glanced at the other children. All the other children did was just stare at the two other adults. With only a basic understanding of the English language and not knowing the context, they didn't understand very much of what the argument was about, nor could they fully understand what Eric was on about when he was talking about the drama between Stan and Wendy. Nevertheless, Red felt empowered to try to fix this. Stomping over to the group of children, they turned their attention to the redhead adult as she began to speak. "Listen, children, what Eric said just now...he doesn't - doesn't mean a thing about it all."_

 _"He sounded pretty serious." Kelsey eyed Red with suspicion, one which meant that there would be nothing trustworthy from Red._

 _"The point is - whatever he told you, don't go around telling others, alright? You could...ruin people."_

 _Sam looked back and forth between the two adults. "Well this doesn't sound very appropriate anyways."_

 _"Well that's because it's not at all appropriate, and I am actually angry now. And yes, Sam, another good reason not to tell anyone." Words could not describe how pissed Red was. "We will have to talk about this later, Nicole."_

 _"Am I in trouble, mommy?" Nikki asked._

 _"No, but as I said, we will still need to talk about this later." Red then turned to Eric. "As for you, just...Goddamnit."_

 _Eric knew that despite his moments of fun telling the children a story of drama like they wanted, he knew he royally messed up by pissing off Red. However, neither adult had any idea that the children would still remember this interaction to this day. Watching Red stomp off, Eric began to chase after her. "Red, wait."_

 _After the adults were out of earshot, Sam eyed Nikki from the corner of his eye. "Ooooh, your mom just said a swear word!"_

 _"What's 'rape'?" Nikki asked._

 _"Probably just another swear word, you're gonna be in big trouble now for saying it," Sam teased as he stuck his tongue out at Nikki._

 _A swift punch to Sam's left shoulder with Nikki's right fist was the response. "Shut up, you're so dumb Sam."_

 _Before Sam could say anything else, Kelsey interrupted the two others by pointing into a distance towards the east. "Oh great, it's Cory."_

 _To where Kelsey was pointing was Stan and three-year-old Cory many yards away. Cory clutched Stan's left hand tightly with his own as he refused to look at the other children. "Daddy, can't I stay with you?"_

 _"Come on, Cory, they won't bite, I promise." Stan knelt down, his left knee touching the cold snow, and patted Cory lightly on the back six times. "It will be good for you. Trust me."_

 _"You'll come back, right?" Cory asked._

 _"Of course. We'll probably have burgers for lunch or something."_

 _Cory hugged Stan tightly one last time before the two departed from each other. Cory slowly walked over to the other three children. Kelsey was clearly disinterested, her arms folded while looking off to the side towards the giant Christmas tree._

 _Nikki, of course, piped up. "Hey, Cory, do you want to know what my mom and dad said about you?" That earned a punch to Nikki's right shoulder from Sam. "Ow!"_

 _"What did they say about me?" Cory asked._

 _Cory looked back and forth between Nikki and Sam. Sam gave Nikki a deathly glare, such a glare that meant that the other person said something they shouldn't have. "They...they said they wished you were their son."_

 _"That's...really weird." Cory took a good look at Sam for a second, but then completely believed Sam's lie. "But whatever."_

 _"So...what do you guys wanna do?" Sam asked._

 _"We could go finger painting," Nikki replied._

 _Sam stared at Nikki in shock. "Right now? It's freezing! And I doubt they have finger painting here"_

 _Kelsey, still staring at the Christmas tree, then spoke up. "Let's just ride the Ferris wheel."_

 _"I agree," Nikki added._

 _"Alright, all in favor of riding the Ferris wheel?" Sam put raised his hand first, followed by Kelsey, then Nikki._

 _Cory, however, did not raise his hand, and as a response, the other three children only glared at him. "I-I don't like heights."_

 _Kelsey immediately let out a groan. "Ugh, you never want to do anything. And it's not like you're going to fall off unless you're a stupidhead." Without further ado, she walked off towards the Ferris wheel._

 _"I'm with Kelsey, let's go." Nikki walked after Kelsey._

 _"Come on, Cory, unless you don't wanna have fun." Sam then went after the two girls._

 _Cory let out a sigh. Every time his parents left him with these specific kids, he just never felt right around them. But because his parents were such good friends with their parents, they were blind and stubborn about it._

 _When it was finally the four kids' turns to embark on the Ferris wheel, from left to right, the kids were seated in the order of Sam, Nikki, Kelsey, and then Cory. Of course, when the ride did start, whatever feelings of animosity still lingered quickly dissipated, replaced by the winter's chill, and the ride's thrill. None of the children had ever been this high up in the air, and never been on a Ferris wheel either. While mundane to most normal people, a drop tower or fast roller coaster is to adults as a Ferris wheel is to these four children. "Woah!" Their parents were like ants from their altitude in the air.  
_

 _At the top of the wheel to the right was a camera. When the four kids finally reached the top, they read the sigh underneath the camera that said "SMILE". For the first time, the four kids were actually having fun with each other, and the smiles they produced were real and genuine._

* * *

Cory slowly awoke from his slumber as the morning sun peaked through the curtains. It took him thirty-two minutes to get dressed and get his backpack sorted out to finally get down to breakfast. At the kitchen he saw his parents Stan and Wendy sitting at the table snuggling up to each other. Stan was only wearing a white undershirt and blue basketball shorts while Wendy was wearing a black tank top and short black shorts. The fact that Wendy was leaning up against Stan, who had his face in her hair, told Cory what the two of them did earlier. Unlike last week, this time, he covered his eyes, doing his best to avoid looking at his parents as he went to get Cheerios.

"This is disgusting." Cory poured himself the cheerios into a yellow bowl. "Why can't you two go somewhere else?"

"Oops, sorry Corry." Wendy, still giggling, split apart from Stan. "It's nothing, we just enjoy our company."

"Okay." The deadpan tone from Cory told the parents that he certainly didn't believe them, that he knew exactly what happened. Cory did not bother to pursue the subject any further however, he was already going to be late for the bus at the pace he was going. He quickly ate half of his cereal, never talking with his parents like usual, and moved the rest of his unfinished bowl to the sink. He then picked up his backpack, slung it around his shoulders, put on his shoes, then walked out the door.

Between his house and the one to his right at the sidewalk stood Charlie Brown and his sister Sally. Both briefly exchanged words until they saw Cory appear, which then they fell silent. "Hey Charlie."

"Sally don't talk to him." Charlie turned his back to Cory. Sally did as told; by not questioning her brother, she too would turn her back on Cory.

For about the tenth time this week, Cory could feel his heart shatter. He had been kicked down by Nikki and the Donovan twins, and now it felt like he was being kicked while being down - and from the innocent Charlie Brown, of all people. Once again, he would have no energy to go to school today.

When the bus did finally show up, Ms. Crabtree greeting with, "ALRIGHT, SHUT UP AND GET ON!" Cory would sit alone at the right side of the bus like usual. And like usual, the bus would then drive off with sudden acceleration, jerking back all of the students, followed by speeding into hard turns. Even when Sam, Nikki, Kailey, and Martin would get on, Cory would do his best to avoid being seen by them. And finally came the hard, sudden stop at school, plummeting everyone forward into the seat in front of them. "ALRIGHT, SHUT UP AND GET OUT!"

For about the hundredth time, Cory would be pushed along by hundreds of other students piling through the front double doors. He would contend with boys pushing other boys, girls giggling and gossiping while piled directly in the middle of hallways blocking paths, and couples of boys and girls of all ages (making valiant attempts at) flirting. To him, it was status quo, and an awful one at that.

When he threw his backpack into the locker, he quickly turned around, expecting someone to be behind him. And right he was, but this time, a Latin-American third grade boy, holding a piece of paper in his hands. "Hey, I need to do this interview, so can you help me out? I just need you to answer some questions, it's just yes-or-no questions."

Cory folded his arms. "Alright."

"Great. Um, first question: do you witness bullying at school?"

"Yes." It was a completely rhetorical question, anyone with half-a-brain or pays some semblance of attention would know how horrible children can be to each other, right?

The boy wrote on his paper for a second, then continued on. "Next question: have you ever been bullied?"

Cory glared at the boy. "Is this a joke? Do you - do you know who I am?"

The boy took a closer look at Cory, but then shook his head. "Hm...nope. Never seen you before."

"Fuck you, this is probably some trick to mess with me, huh?!" With that said, Cory immediately brushed the boy off and walked away.

"Wait, come back! My survey is due this morning, and Mrs. Beatles is a hard-ass and will yell at me! Come on! I don't wanna miss recess again!" But Cory didn't respond, only kept on walking. "Fine, go be a jerk then!"

Cory wouldn't trounce far as Nikki came in to block his path. "Woah!" At first, Cory jumped back from Nikki's sudden appearance, but as swiftly as the surprise was his expression turned to anger once again. "Oh, it's you."

"What you did to that kid, that wasn't cool," Nikki said sternly.

"What are you, my mom?" Cory moved right to try to walk past Nikki.

Nikki moved so that she would still be in Cory's way. "You better apologize to him."

"For what? For being an annoying brat? No way!"

"You're unbelievable. Even bigger asshole than John."

A low blow at that, which made Cory's heart pound. Before Cory could spit a sexist insult at Nikki, the bell rang. "Oh Goddamnit." He turned to see Nikki already leave towards Mr. Garrison's class, and he had no choice but to follow.

The two kids walked silently, making no eye contact with each other. When everyone took their seats in Mr. Garrison's class, Mr. Garrison stood up front. "Alright, class. First thing's first, Mr. Mackey had parted ways with South Park Elementary. He will be the school counselor no longer." Everyone cheered, and it was the first time this week Cory felt happy. After how unfairly Mr. Mackey tried to punish Cory yesterday, along with letting John, Leslie, and Claire out of detention early over some asinine narrative speech about friendship and family (at least in Cory's perspective), along how ineffective he was at his job of being a school counselor for at least the last twenty-one years, no one would miss Mr. Mackey.

 _"You may only have an internet degree, but why don't you start acting like you're a school counselor and not an uninformed, backwards little dork?! M'kay?!" Someone had said as they were astonished how Mr. Mackey would rather have students learn about positive thinking over bullying._

"So who's the new school counselor?" A boy asked.

"Well, Toby, his name is John Vanson, but I don't think any of you kids know him."

After Mr. Garrison was done taking attendance, he then walked around the room passing out stacks of papers to everyone. "Happy Friday, everyone. Now, kids, it is time to start the math final exam. I hope you kids have studied. When you get your test you may begin and you have until morning recess to complete this." Each test consisted of two pieces of paper stapled to each other, with math problems on all four sides, spaced enough so work can be done. When Cory received his test, he skimmed through the entire test, and burned with frustration, knowing that these problems would be too complicated for him.

When the morning recess bell did ring, Cory felt no better having completed the test. He was sure the best grade he'd get would be a C, that is if Mr. Garrison is in a good mood while he graded Cory's work.

* * *

During recess, John Donovan found the rest of his friends Ricky Oswald, Kurt Eastwood, James Milton, Fred Cotswolds, Will Malkinson, Calvin Frederickson, and Steven Emery at the merry-go-round laughing. As John walked closer, he could hear the entire conversation.

"Don't worry about it." Fred stood towering over the rest of the group, who were sitting. "Sam's just being a bitch."

"It's so stupid how he got away with it all while we got in trouble," James added.

"It's all Nikki," Ricky reminded. "She's the real bitch here."

John knew that the only people to blame were themselves, but of course, he couldn't possibly tell the other boys straight up without them doing something to him. He knew he had to engage this tactifully, and luckily, he knew how. As he approached the group, Will waved to him. "John! Heard about you and Leslie from yesterday."

"Yeah, man, what happened between you two?" Kurt asked.

John shook his head, but did not falter his stance. "It's been resolved. Leslie and I are cool now."

"Really?" Calvin peered at John searchingly, trying to detect anything John was trying to hide. "That's a first."

"Tell me about it." John then cleared his throat as he let in a large inhale. "Anyways, I'm here because...I want to tell you..." John fell silent. The others looked at him, waiting to see what he had to say. After a few seconds, John then mustered the courage to continue on. "...I think it's best if I leave you guys."

"Why?" Steven asked.

"Because I think it'd be the best for all of us." John let out a sigh. "Look, I was the one who got y'all in trouble, I mean, yeah, my sister and Claire ratted us out, but it was all my idea, and I think I should just go."

"John, come on, don't be weird, it has nothing to do with you-" Fred started to say.

"It has everything to do with me." While it wasn't completely true, while John did knowingly over-exaggerate his role in the drama, he felt this was necessary. "I should just go."

"John, wait!"

But John didn't look back as he began to walk away. "Sorry." When he walked over to the other side of the playground, where a few other boys were playing four-square, someone tapped him on the back. He turned around only to see his sister. "Oh. Hey Leslie."

"That was pretty brave of you, what you did, and without actually trying to fight anyone." Leslie looked back at John's former friends, who were now staring at the twins. "Well I suppose you should be lucky they didn't try to fight you."

"I think I learned my lesson," John said. "Whatever happened to your friends, hmm?"

"They said bye, that was it." Leslie then looked over to what's left of John's former friends, which were Leslie's group. John could notice that they were whispering to each other while staring at the twins. "They're probably talking shit about us. Or talking shit about me, more likely."

"Don't worry about it, you know, 'bitches will be bitches'." With one last nod, John looked back at the other boys who were playing four-square with the rubber ball. "Come on, let's play some ball."

* * *

Nikki sat by herself today for lunch. It was that old familiar feeling, from third grade and before. She remembered how she and Kelsey would be ostracized by their peers, forced to sit by themselves during lunchtime everyday. Now, it was almost the same, only this time, Kelsey would be one of the people leaving her out. She stared blankly at her pepperoni pizza, feeling energized. For two more minutes, she sat like this, not even touching her pizza, but then stirred out of trance when she saw Sam with his lunch sit down across from her at the same table.

"Hey." Sam stared at Nikki's pizza, then back to her. "Not hungry?"

"No." Nikki let out a sigh.

"Why are you sitting alone?" Sam turned to see Nikki's former friends staring at them, then giggling to themselves. "Did they kick you out or something?"

"Pretty much." Nikki picked up her pizza, her fingers trembling. But despite how delicious Chef made it, she couldn't eat. "I'm not feeling it today."

"Leslie and Claire aren't with them either."

"What?" Nikki turned to study her former friends, and the next second, she found Sam was right. Neither Leslie nor Claire could be seen anywhere at the table. She then briefly scanned the entire cafeteria before finding the Donovan twins at another table with two other boys and one other girl. A few tables over was Claire, with Charlie Brown and two other kids chatting about Dungeons and Dragons. "I guess people are finally starting to move on."

"But I don't want to." Nikki gazed back at Sam, waiting to see what he meant. Sam's heart trembled; what if Nikki wouldn't take him back? What could he say to fix things? "W-what I mean..." Sam brought his palms out, facing towards the ceiling. "Nikki, I really miss you. I don't want you to hate me. And - and I'm sorry for calling you a...a..."

"I shouldn't have called you a 'stupid Jew' either." Nikki finally took a bite out of her pizza. "Also, I feel like you should know what's going on - like why I stood up for Cory like that."

"Is it to make yourself feel good?" Sam asked.

Nikki nodded. "But I can't tell you exactly why here. Too many people, you know? I don't even want to talk about him right now."

"What'd he do this time?" Sam asked.

"Some third grade kid tried to get him to do a survey, Cory told him to fuck off and called him an annoying brat behind his back. I mean, was Cory always this much of a dick?"

"No...he wasn't. What's going on?"

"Can I just tell you later at Toby Hoffman's party? You should come too...you're not grounded, right?"

Sam shook his head. "No. I'm not. And doesn't Toby even know about this? We're actually crashing his party?"

"Yes." Sam raised an eyebrow. "I didn't come up with the idea...in fact, I don't know who came up with the idea, but a lot of kids are going to make his birthday the 'greatest party ever' or something."

"Right." There was a rather obvious sarcastic tone from Sam. "And if I go, you'll tell me...everything about why you did all that stuff over the last three weeks?"

"Everything you want to know."

Sam gave it a thought. He certainly wasn't invited to Toby's birthday party, but then again, only about six people or so would be. He had no true feelings towards Toby, rarely even interacting with him, so trashing his entire place would make him feel particularly bad. On the other hand, he didn't want to be left out, and especially Nikki would be there. Plus, Kyle and Bebe lifted his grounding, so he was free to do whatever. Furthermore, sneaking out would be especially easy, and it wasn't like Kyle would care, considering Kyle and Bebe had gotten into far more fantastic and dangerous adventures when both were Sam's age. Sam didn't smile, simply shrugging. "Alright. I'll give it a shot."

"Just so we're clear, let's not try to wreck anything, so they can't blame it on us when the others trash his place, alright?" Nikki confirmed.

"Yep. Show up, chat with you, don't destroy anything. Got it."

* * *

Mr. Garrison walked around the room, passing back the math exams he graded earlier, insulting the children in his usual sarcastic tone. "Wow kids, like usual, you guys did very shitty. Even apes would have done better on this test." After he finished passing them back, he walked back up to the front. "The class average is a forty percent, and your final math grades are at the front. And once again: congratulations, morons."

Cory stared at his exam in shock. He received a 32% as his final score. Before the exam, he was sitting at an 81%, which was a B-, and now his math grade dropped to a 70.0%. His lips quivered as he quietly spoke to himself, "I-I t-thought I studied." Once again, he felt like nothing but a disappointment to his parents. They would have never gotten such a horrible grade like Cory did. Was there possibly _anything_ Cory was good at? The only thing Cory's really managed to accomplish within the last few years of his childhood was losing friends and destroying any possible relationships he could have.

While Mr. Garrison droned on about Charles Darwin and the concept of natural selection, Cory could do nothing but tune Mr. Garrison out the whole way through, his mind set on his many failed friendships and the fact his parents wouldn't be happy with his grades, as per usual.

"CORY!"

Cory jumped in his chair. Sitting up, he found himself stared down by an angry Mr. Garrison. "W-w-what?"

"Since you seem to be enjoying your sleep, what was Charles Darwin's theory?!" Mr. Garrison yelled.

"Um..." Now Cory wish he paid attention to the class, no matter how irrelevant this was, no matter how off-tangent Charles Darwin was from a regular fourth grade curriculum. "...divide by zero?"

Most of the class roared with laughter. Mr. Garrison, one of the few not laughing, simply shook his head. "No, it is not division by zero. It is 'Survival of the Fittest'. Perhaps if you were paying more attention in class, you'd not have a D in science."

Cory was so embarrassed he sunk low in his chair, sinking half of his face down into his jacket wishing not to be seen. He wish he never went to school today, he should have known it would be a disaster. The only saving grace here was that it was only one more week left, and then afterward, Cory would try to move to a different school.

When the bell finally did ring, Cory managed to be the first one out the door. Speed-walking along the hallways, he opened his locker, slung his backpack onto him, and quickly shut the door. Sighing in relief that he'd be out of school quick, he carelessly took a few steps back, bumping into someone, and moments later, heard a thump on the ground along with screaming. Startled, he turned around to see Kelsey McCormick on the floor again.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" Cory couldn't believe that once again he physically hurt the girl he (supposedly) had a crush on. He couldn't believe that even when he thought things couldn't get any worse, they managed to get worse. It was as if God wanted to have fun and be entertained at Cory's expense.

"You asshole!" Kelsey managed to recover and stand quickly - quickly enough to deliver an earful at Cory. "Why do you always do this to me?! Can't you watch where you go?!"

"I said I'm sorry!" Cory tried.

Kelsey wouldn't have it. The raven-haired boy irritated her for years, even though he never actually tried to hurt her. The same could not be said vice versa, and Cory will soon learn why, as Kelsey prepared to let it loose. "Do you - do you want to know why I don't like you?! Hate you enough to want you to stop having a crush on me?!" Every word from Kelsey hit Cory's heart like bullets piercing through the toughest of armor. He couldn't respond, didn't know how to. And so, Kelsey continued on, stepping closer to Cory this time. "Because you're a fucking weirdo, and apparently you're a jerk also! I mean, even Nikki and Sam hate you, and I don't even like them anymore either!"

Yards away, Nikki, Martin, Sam, and Kailey, upon hearing this, tried to step closer to Kelsey and Cory. However, a crowd was already beginning to form, blocking them off from approaching the arguing two.

"I-I just thought-" Cory tried again.

"Well you thought wrong! You're always wrong and stupid, but that's not important!" Kelsey cleared her throat then glared back at Cory, their blue eyes locking. "What IS important though is that you pretty much caused everything wrong in fourth grade, like all that shit?! Maybe if you were your own man and not some total 'nice guy' John wouldn't have hazed you so hard!" Kelsey was beginning to tremble now as her frustration and emotion began to overtake her logical thinking. "A-and I-I'm just - just going to say what everyone else is thinking...you suck! I don't like you, and no one - no one likes you either! You're own parents...they didn't even want you either!"

"Y-y-y-y-you're an-n-n accidental p-p-pregnancy j-just like me though, and most of the f-fourth grade as well," Cory tried to reason.

"Well t-the d-different - the d-difference is that y-y-your dad raped your mom! Or - more exactly, your drunken whore mom seduced your idiot dad into bed and fucked him at a party during college!"

Kelsey prudently covered her mouth, realizing she said something she should not have said. The entire crowd of students gasped. Murmurs amongst the crowd began soaring through the hallway. Cory couldn't believe it. He always knew he wasn't supposed to exist...but the exact method he came to be? In a sickening way though, it had to make sense, he was never supposed to exist, no one at school likes him, so this had to be the logical way for him to come about, he could only see this as the only way.

Nevertheless, Kelsey's truth bomb could only choke Cory out on air as he tried to process the revelation in a way which it could be seen in a positive light. Unfortunately, Cory couldn't, as he was naturally a pessimist. The only solution could be denial. "Y-y-you...you're full of shit!" He pointed at Kelsey with his right index finger. "How...how'd you know all this?"

"I..." Kelsey looked at the floor and scratched the back of her head. "...it doesn't matter." She had already angered Nikki enough, the last thing she needed to do was to throw her dad under the bus while she's at it, though Eric Cartman had been thrown underneath plenty of buses, both figuratively and literally. "Just...just ask your parents, stupid! And no, I don't feel sorry for you at all, creep! You're nothing, and you should have never been born!"

The only thing worse than learning the truth of his parents was learning it from the girl Cory had a crush on, all of this unfortunately only proving how much she truly hated him. He looked at the other kids in terror, who could only slightly glance back at him as they continued whispering to each other. Nevermore would he run, and indeed he smashed his way past the crowd, running down the hallways, and finally out of the school building, never looking back, only leaving behind echoes of tears.

Kelsey stood still breathing heavily. Most of the other kids dispersed, but only Nikki, Sam, Martin, and Kailey stuck around, surrounding the blonde girl. Nikki was the first to speak, glaring daggers into Kelsey's eyes. "You are a bitch. You are the worst person I've ever met."

"Yeah?" Kelsey challenged. "Well don't forget that I'm the reason you even had friends at all, Nikki!"

"You idiot, you weren't supposed to tell anyone that - now the whole school knows!" Sam glanced back at the other children, who seemingly tended to their own business. "You're a fucked up kid, I-I-I-I c-can't even look at you. I'm leaving, let's go Kailey."

"Okay." Kailey obeyed her brother without question, marching off with Sam.

"I'm gonna go too." Martin walked off after the Broflovskis.

As Nikki began following Martin, she took one last look at Kelsey. "You let your hate consume you, as nerdy as th-that sounds. D-don't even look at me again." Afterward, she left Kelsey alone to wallow in her sorrow, Kelsey only beginning to realize what she had truly done.

* * *

Cory could barely even touch his dinner tonight. Usually he'd sit silently, not ever chatting with his parents, but now, he was so disgusted he couldn't even look at them. The worst part is how they had tried so hard to hide everything from Cory, made it seem like they were the perfect couple of star quarterback and head cheerleader.

Wendy, sitting to Cory's left, always knew Cory was fairly quiet, but this time, seeing his dread expression refusing to look at her nor Stan, she knew something about Cory was off. "Honey, what's wrong?"

 _"Just ask your parents, stupid!"_ Those words from Kelsey continued to burn in Cory's mind. He knew that asking for the truth could potentially be damaging to his relationship with his parents, but on the other hand, he was far too curious about these matters - he wanted the truth, and nothing but the truth. "Why am I like this?"

"Like what?" Wendy asked.

"You know." Cory's lips and heart trembled. "Why am I an accident?"

Stan, who sat to Cory's right, was partly sure what Cory might be referring to. "Cory, we've talked about this before-"

"No! I won't be deluded anymore!" Heavily breathing, Cory finally eyed his parents for the first time this evening. "I know you two may want me to believe that you're just some happily married high-school jock-and-cheerleader relationship, but I'm sick of all these lies!" Stan and Wendy silently eyed Cory, wondering what exactly he was on about. But then the conversation took an interesting turn when Cory continued on. "I know what you two did when you both were in college."

Stan's gut hardened. Pointing a trembling left index finger at Cory, he grinded his teeth. "You're - you're treading on some mighty thin ice, boy." His tone was low and soft, which to Cory meant that Stan was about to get very angry.

"Cory, you need to listen to your father and stop talking." Wendy's voice was also low, which is rare for her, signifying that it would be best for Cory to shut up. "Y-you're not going to like where this is heading."

"No...why can't you just tell me? Like - like, why do you have to hide stuff? What was so special about some stupid party anyways?" Being only ten years old, Cory doesn't exactly know why partying is such a phenomenon in college, doesn't exactly understand the average college student's mindset, but he had a good enough idea of what people do at such parties. He knows what parties are like, but not why it happens, and he knew his parents should have never gone that night - maybe Cory wouldn't have to be born into such a God-forsaken world.

"Cory, shut up!" Wendy warned.

The fact that Cory's parents repeatedly danced around Cory's questions only irritated him further. Perhaps his parents are right, that he should stop talking, but the words from Kelsey continued to burn in his mind. "I hate that dad went behind mom like...that, and I hate how mom goaded dad into doing it! And the worst part is you wouldn't tell me!" Cory looked at Stan. "You're a rapist-" he then turned to Wendy. "-and you're a whore, and I hate you both!"

Stan couldn't take it anymore, however. Every word out of Cory brought back painful memories, everything wrong that ever happened with him and Wendy. Panicking, using his left hand, he sent a backhand smack onto Cory's right cheek. He didn't put full force into his attack, but it was hard enough to leave a red mark on Cory's cheek, and enough to send him crying. Wendy, who had been offended by the insult, also smacked Cory, using her right palm, striking the back of Cory's head.

And cry Cory did, as he got up from his chair and ran up the stairs, slamming the door to his bedroom so hard it slightly shook the house.

After Stan realized what he had done, he trembled again, this time, feelings of guild overtook him. "No..Cory!"

"Oh my God, Stan!" Of course though, that was all Wendy could say. Unfortunately, she couldn't blame Stan for reacting the way he did, nor was she blameless either, as she did attack Cory too. On the other hand, any doubt that Cory hated them would certainly be erased after the events of this evening, there could be no question that Cory would never forgive Stan nor Wendy, not only for trying to hide everything, but also punished for attempting to pursue the truth.

"I'm sorry Wendy." As Stan put his head down on the table and softly wept, Wendy put her left arm around Stan's.

After the dishes were cleaned up, Stan went straight into changing into pajamas. He was sure Cory wouldn't want to see either of the two, his best bet was to pursue the subject tomorrow after they were in a better emotional state. But Wendy really wanted to know what put off Cory so badly. After changing to her pajamas, she walked over to Cory's door and knocked twice. "Cory, you there?" After ten seconds of only sobbing, she slowly attempted to open the door, only finding it to be unlocked. Perhaps Cory was so frustrated he forgot to lock the door, so Wendy let herself in. The room was dark, and in the shadows was Cory wrapping himself up with his blanket, backing away to the wall as Wendy approached. "Cory?"

"D-d-don't hurt me!" Cory backed up to the wall as far as he possibly could.

"I-I won't hurt you." When Wendy knelt down at the bedside, Cory simply looked away to his left, trembling in fear. Noting this, she continued on in her softest, most nurturing voice. "Cory, I know something isn't right, and you need to tell me what's going on. Okay?"

For years, Cory would try to hide all of his problems from his parents. But now, he couldn't hide it any longer. "I-I hate school! Kelsey McCormick told me everything about you two!"

Wendy's jaw dropped. "Kenny's daughter? Everything?" Wendy couldn't fathom how Kenny's daughter of all people would know.

"Well, enough for me to know!" Cory didn't take his eyes off his own lap. "A-and now everyone knows!"

"W-what happens now?" Wendy asked nervously.

"Probably nothing," Cory continued to sob. "Because people have always been mean to me, and always will be, and it will never change! People push me around - trip me and steal my stuff, talk behind my back! I don't want to go to school anymore!"

Wendy put her arms around Cory and hugged him tightly as he sobbed into her chest. "Cory, I'm so sorry I should have known...why didn't you ever tell us?"

"B-because you two are like perfect popular kids, and I'm n-not, and I didn't want to make you m-mad or anything!"

For a while, Cory wept in Wendy's arms. Finally, when he was done, he fell into slumber due to fatigue. Wendy kissed him on the forehead, making sure not to touch his slightly-swollen left eye, then closed the door. When she got into the bedroom, she noted Stan lying down, his back turned to Wendy. "Stan...did you know that Cory had been bullied at school?"

"Honestly...I didn't." Stan said weakly.

Wendy knew something was wrong with Stan. "Stan? Is everything alright?"

"Wendy, look at us. We hit our own son. What kind of parents are we?"

"We panicked," Wendy tried to reason.

Stan still wouldn't look at Wendy. "We're both shitty people, it's been that way for a long time. Like, our entire class too. I mean - any way you look at it, Cory's right. We're not good parents at all. We tried to hide stuff from him and..." Stan then fell silent.

Wendy slipped underneath the covers to Stan's left and put her left arm around Stan. "Stan, it's not your fault." Normally Wendy's touch would calm Stan down, but this was one of those rare occasions when Stan couldn't be calmed, and it sent guild into Wendy. "Stan?"

There was no other response, and Wendy couldn't do much else other than sob.

* * *

 **And I'm ending it there. I will try to update things sooner, now that the flashback section is all done. Originally, the flashbacks were supposed to happen much later, but I put them here. Which set way for a new character in this story to finally develop.**


	18. Chapter 18: Coming Clean

**Due to a disturbingly high amount of troll reviews I've been getting, I am leaving the guest reviews on moderated mode. Although I know the exact source, I hate having to do this, but if I have to, I have to.**

* * *

 **Chapter 18**

Wendy stirred awake, so the first thing she did was roll over to her right side to try to hug Stan, by instinct. However, she noticed that her left hand slammed down not onto Stan, but onto the bed. Realizing that Stan wasn't in bed with her, she sat up wide away, taking a look around. The digital clock read 5:32, and sunlight was already barely peaking into the bedroom. In front of her was the bathroom, lights off and door open, so Stan clearly wasn't in there. She then looked to her left, where the doorway would lead to the hall, and noted that the door was slightly left open.

Wendy slowly got up out of bed and walked out of the bedroom, heading downstairs. As she walked down the stairs, she could hear the kitchen sink faucet running for a brief moment before turning off. Looking into the kitchen, she saw Stan staring out the window into the backyard. "Stan?"

Stan turned around, revealing two mugs of coffee, one in each hand. "Oh. Hey. I made coffee."

"What are you doing up so early?" Wendy asked.

"I couldn't sleep." Stan set both mugs of coffee down on the small dining table. He then pulled up a chair. "Please sit."

Both of the adults sat down at the table. They could barely see each other in the barely visible sunlight still covered by darkness in the kitchen. "Couldn't sleep either, huh?"

"No. I've been up for a while, just thinking about everything that happened between us...and then the fact that Cory was being bullied...I heard everything, and it's just...too much for me to take in." Stan took a sip of coffee before continuing on. "I thought it was just Clyde's and Heidi's kids. But what if Cory was right, what if the whole school did bully him?"

"I mean, probably not the _entire_ school...but enough to put him where he is." Wendy also took a sip of coffee. "I can't believe how cruel children could be. Were we ever that cruel?"

Stan thought back for a moment, remembering the times he bullied Butters and other students, the times Wendy and her cohorts of cheerleaders would talk trash behind others' backs, how despite the facts both were technically raised in Catholic households, they effectively did many things that went against the teachings, namely bullying others and sex before marriage. And then they had to remember that they aren't the only parents like this, most of the other parents of children in the fourth grade in this down aren't much better than Stan nor Wendy at all (if that were even the case). "You know what, our entire generation is nothing short of a disaster."

"How so?" Wendy asked.

"I think we grew up too fast. I mean, our parents are _still to this day_ basically man-children, so we pretty much had to care for them." Stan put his hands out. "Like think about it, our generation have to care for our actual children, and our parents, who are still basically children."

Wendy nodded in agreement, adding onto the subject matter. "Maybe that's why our generation - we just drink a lot, do a lot of drugs, or have a lot of sex because...something about movie stars-"

"Movie stars and celebrities, yeah." Stan then let out a cough. "This still doesn't make us any better than our parents."

"Why?"

"We should have told Cory the truth. I should have known he'd end up finding out eventually...and how the hell did Kenny's daughter end up being the one to tell him?" Stan knew that Kenny was very reliable at keeping secrets, so it was very much a surprise when he came to find out that Kelsey would be the one to break the news to Cory.

"I don't think Kenny told his daughter, it's not like that of him. And the problem with Cory knowing now is what will he think of us?"

"I think we should have a chat with him. I didn't want to do so last night because...you know. Maybe after we pick Cory up from church today."

"Yeah." Afterwards, the two adults began to stare out the window in silence.

* * *

It was 12:42 PM. Catechism wasn't interesting for Cory, as usual. The problem is that despite being taught to worship and to be a good human being in general, Cory had no reason to do any of it due to the amount of abuse he endured from his peers over the years. He felt that it is especially silly for him to be kind to those who had done nothing but wrong to him. As a result, he learned very little from religion.

In the backyard fields at the local church in South Park was an end-of-the-school-year party. Mostly served was hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, snacks such as chips, water, and soda. Kelsey was present, but far away from Cory, and this time, Cory would not stare longingly at Kelsey. Whatever feelings Cory had for Kelsey was ultimately crushed after the events of yesterday. He sat alone on a rock next to a sunflower bed with nothing but an empty red plastic cup with some slight lemon-lime soda residue inside.

A minute later, Stan and Wendy showed up to the party, intent on picking up Cory. They ended up seeing him by himself near the sunflowers. Him being by himself not playing with any of the other children only reaffirmed the struggles he went through daily. They both walked up to him, and Cory noticed their approached as he looked up. "Hey, how are you doing?" Stan asked.

"Fine," Cory replied. "Can we get outta here?"

"Alright, you ate all the food you wanted?" Cory nodded at Wendy's question. "Alright, come."

None of the three talked along the car ride, albeit a very short one. When Cory finally was able to get out of the car, however, he wasn't actually at home, but instead at Stark's Pond. As Stan and Wendy left the car, Cory looked back at his parents. "Why'd you take me here?"

"It's a nice place," Stan replied. "It's where I first asked out your mother for a date."

"Actually, Stan, I asked you out because whenever you tried to talk to me all you could do is puke," Wendy corrected.

Cory almost gagged after hearing that. Stan puking on Wendy? What on earth was wrong with his father back then that made him puke on other girls? If there was one thing good about himself, it was that he certainly didn't inherit his father's trait of puking on pretty girls. "Disgusting."

"What?" Stan let out a chuckle. "I was really nervous around your mother back then. I mean, you know." Stan didn't know what else to say as he began blushing from the memory.

The three walked over to a nearby wooden bench and sat down, Cory between the two parents. Stan was to Cory's right, and Wendy was to Cory's left. Wendy looked around, noting some younger children playing in the distance, but far enough away as to which they wouldn't be able to make out the upcoming conversation. "So Cory...what's going on with school?"

Cory knew he could hide his pain no longer, and speaking of hiding things, Cory was starting to realize how hypocritical he was being yesterday, yelling at his parents for hiding important details of their lives yet he wasn't willing to share what was going on with his. "People are mean to me at school." Just reminding himself of the everyday abuse he endured for years would very soon bring him to tears. "T-they've always have been, and they always will be...it wasn't just John Donovan." Cory let out a few sniffles. "It was mostly everyone, even Nikki and Kelsey. Except Sam, he was the only one nice to me, I was terrible to him, and now he probably hates me too!"

Stan's heart dropped the moment Sam was mentioned. "Kyle's son? What did you do?"

"I told him to 'fuck off and die, asshole!'" Cory confessed. He brought his face into his hands in shame, taking in a deep breath before continuing. "I panicked!" It was the worst way for the two children to be treating each other, especially considering Stan and Kyle, and Wendy and Bebe were best friends since preschool. What would Kyle and Bebe say if he found out how much Cory and Sam hated each other? It would be a social disaster, irony of epic proportions. Cory's tone softened. "I don't want to go to school anymore. I hate everyone and they hate me too." Cory had never talked so much in his entire life, and it was noticeable due to his heavy breathing.

"Cory, I know it's hard," Wendy said as she started patting Cory's back with her right hand.

"No, you don't!" Cory still continued to cry, for what could almost be the hundredth time this week. "You two are like - like perfect, and I'm not! You both look nice, have lots of friends, and your jobs aren't even that bad either! And I'm nothing! It's like you both hate me or something!"

As Stan listened in more, he suddenly realized what exactly Cory was getting at. "Was that why you never told us any of your problems?" It must have been the reason why Cory felt so insecure, two great people who raised a son with high expectations, and would instead turn out to be a nobody.

"Y-yes," Cory softly spoke.

"Cory." Stan put his left arm around Stan and held Cory close to him. "We don't hate you, we love you for who you are, and we don't care how popular you are at school, what matters most is that we still care about you."

"Then why am I just an accident?" Cory asked. "Why couldn't you both just...respect each other?"

Stan knew Cory would come back to that question eventually, and he didn't have a good answer. But thankfully, Wendy stepped up to talk. "Cory...there's a lot of reasons why things like this happen." She let out a sigh. "One main contributor though...birth control was completely outlawed while daddy and I were in college. You do know what that is, right?"

"I do, mom," Cory replied. "Mr. Garrison taught us."

"Of course he would." The way South Park Elementary taught sex ed to Wendy's class was horrible, they were taught to fear the opposite gender, which eventually culminated into _one of the few_ gender wars in fourth grade. "The president back then was stupid. But despite that, your dad and I did it anyways...because...you know..."

Cory finally stopped crying as he wiped away some tears. "Mom, I'm old enough to know."

"Alright, well then." Wendy cleared her throat. "I was drunk, I wasn't thinking straight, and my sex drive was acting up. Stan tried to resist me, but you know, when guys get erections-"

The more Cory listened, the more he wanted to gag. He normally didn't care much about the subject, but hearing it come from his parents was too squicky for him. "Okay, you know what, forget I ever asked."

Stan and Wendy both laughed. "Well the point is, I did hurt your mother, and I'm sorry about it, but listen: you're the best mistake I've ever made." He turned to Wendy to study her facial expression. It seemed mostly neutral, but the corners of her mouth are slowly showing a smile.

"Why couldn't you just like - you know...resist mom or something?" Cory asked. "I mean, maybe then I wouldn't have to live on this stupid, shitty planet with stupid, shitty people."

"Cory, you're a blessing to us, please don't think so poorly of yourself," Wendy pleaded. "Without you, I wouldn't have married your father, I'd still be out alone with other guys, if you know what I mean." After Stan and Wendy broke off during college and before they got back together again, Wendy became more promiscuous due to her craving for the feelings as she was so used to being in a relationship for the vast majority of her lifespan, though she was also influenced by her sorority. Stan has already known this however, prior to getting back with Wendy and finally marrying her.

"And trust me, Cory, despite what happened between your mother and I...you're actually one of the luckier kids in this town," Stan smiled.

Cory peered at his father searchingly. "How?"

"I mean, it's not really much a secret that the other kids are...um...accidents, such as yourself." Stan figured that even though Cory didn't explicitly ask for examples, Cory probably wanted to know some anyways. "Kyle and Bebe - or Sam's parents - they used to argue all the time. Well, Kyle's mom, or Sam's grandma, forced Bebe to marry Kyle when she found out they had a baby." When Cory piped up to ask why, Stan responded, "Kyle's mom is a big, fat bitch." Wendy and Cory both laughed. "Anyways, Bebe was jealous that she had to leave school while Kyle got to get his degree, their relationship got so bad they had to see a marriage counselor, but that was years ago. Things are nice for them now."

Cory would never have expected this from Sam. Then again, this was Sam Broflovski, the very kid who was able to endure trauma and still laugh it up in the end. The last time Sam had been bullied was in first grade, and during the spring he caught an awful flu. When he fought the bully, Sam bit the bully in his left forearm, hard enough to leave bleeding teeth marks akin to a zombie's bite in zombie movies. The bully was out sick for three days and no one messed with Sam again.

"Kenny and Kelly...Kelsey McCormick's parents...kinda did the same thing we did," Wendy added. "By 'kinda', I mean pretty much exactly the same. Except the difference is they never got back together, and Kelsey is living with her single dad."

Cory had witnessed Kelsey being bullied before. Every time he tried to help her, he was turned down, with her saying _"I'll never be as low as you, you creep."_ Come to think of it, Kelsey was never a nice person to begin with. Then again, she was as messed up as he was, only she broke much faster.

"Eric and Red...Nikki Cartman's dad..." Stan let out a sigh. "Let's just say it's not really much drama going on when they had Nikki accidentally, it's more along the lines of what Eric did as a child." Cory looked up at Stan. "Let's see some of the more notable things he's done, or tried to do...he tried to start a second Holocaust, made a sport of babies addicted to crack, used stem cells from stem cell research to build a new pizza restaurant, tried to get Family Guy cancelled...the list just goes on and on. Was racist and sexist. I'm not sure why we were friends with him back then. But that was then and this is now."

Cory remembered when Nikki was first in school, people isolated her and stayed away from her. Teachers were wary of her due to being associated with Eric Cartman, and Eric made quite the impression. Thus, Nikki and Kelsey didn't have many friends, until they both united with other rejects during the fourth grade, cleaned up their appearance to basically be beautiful bitches. The boys were captivated, which eventually meant the girls were subjected by Kelsey and her cohorts.

"Most of the parents in your fourth grade class were in our graduating class," Wendy continued. "Their families are a disaster. Lots of breakups and complications due to prematurely having a kid before they were ready. Probably about ninety percent of them didn't even last one year as a couple. You know, children that come from broken families tend to be worse off than children who come from secure ones."

Suddenly, it made sense to Cory why everyone at school was so horrible. Mr. Garrison has mentioned what Wendy did a couple of times, but often downplayed it, as he called constantly called _everyone_ retards. Most of the fourth graders came from families far more broken. As for the younger students, the fourth graders likely negatively influenced them.

"I didn't want to tell you this," Stan said, regaining Cory's attention, "because I wasn't sure how you'd handle it. I didn't want you to be mad at us, I just wanted you to see us as perfect parents."

"I wasn't the nicest girl either," Wendy added. "I mean, throughout most of grade school, I spread ill rumors about girls I didn't like, and the boys who were weird we pretty much ostracized them, calling them creeps and perverts and convinced girls not to go out with them, even if they weren't necessarily so." This especially hit Cory in the heart, as being called a creep or pervert is what he dealt with often from girls, even though he usually didn't talk about sex in public solely because the subject matter naturally made him uncomfortable. He was also afraid that if a girl didn't like the boy, she'd quickly judge him in the wrong ways Wendy mentioned, which of course led to Cory's failure to be able to form any relationship with a girl. "And another thing," Wendy continued, "is that we weren't always together. Shortly after we had you, I left your father because I found out for real that he was the father."

Cory raised an eyebrow. "You were pregnant with me for nine months, how did you not know?"

"I didn't remember much of the party, and your father wouldn't tell me," Wendy replied. "Well I mean, I though I had slept with other guys during the party, but...well I guess I only slept with one. Which is your father."

"Basically because of that," Stan said, "I...I raised you alone for two years, while your mother finished her degree."

"Why would you leave each other?" Cory replied.

"Because it was my fault," Stan replied.

"Stan..." Wendy tried to say.

"No, Wendy, it is mine," Stan interrupted. "You deserved your future far more than I did mine. I mean, people weren't lying when they voted you'd be the most successful graduate from our high school...they just didn't know it'd actually be true." He turned to Cory. "What this all means...I know I hurt your mother, but I made up all of this by raising you alone while letting her get her degree and get a good job."

The fact that Cory was still intact after all these years meant that Stan must have done a pretty good job at raising Cory given the circumstances. He had always taken Stan for granted, never fully appreciating the sacrifices Stan had made for Cory, how much Stan had given up so that Cory could grow up relatively healthy (until he started going to grade school that is). "I'm...I'm sorry...I shouldn't have called you guys a rapist or whore - I-I didn't mean to-"

"It's alright, son." Stan patted Cory's back. "I understand why you're feeling angry and frustrated. But you need to remember that you're not alone, that you're never alone."

"But how?" Cory asked. "You both were like the bullies who bully me at school."

"Cory, why would we bully you?" Wendy put her right arm around Cory as Cory leaned against Wendy. "We care about you because we love you."

Cory could see the irony, that Stan and Wendy were bullies during their childhood, and now their child is getting bullied. It was as if God had come down to Stan and Wendy and created Cory in such a way in which the two would pay for the sins. "I don't want to go to school anymore. I wanna go to a different school. I want to go to the other elementary school."

"Are you sure?" Wendy knew Cory was referring to Gallagher Elementary, which was on the east side of town. "I mean, I heard the faculty is full of people who hate children, I'm not kidding."

"It's not like Mr. Garrison is nice either, he's mean!" The Marshes couldn't deny what Cory was saying though. Wendy and Stan could remember the times Mr. Garrison called them or some other classmate retards and other wonderful names for getting simple questions wrong. Mr. Garrison would constantly go off topic, harass other students or teachers, and shove various things up Mr. Slave's butt, including but not limited to mice, tennis balls, and cell phones. "And I don't have friends at school either. I wish I were cool or something. Life would be way easier if I were popular."

"Friends shouldn't be some kind of commodity for a person's status," Stan replied. "I know you don't want to hear this, but you have to be patient. If you really want to move schools that badly, just one more week. School's over in just one more week, then if you still want to go through with it, we'll make sure you never have to see them again, alright?"

Cory wiped away the last of his tears. "Alright. T-thanks, for finally telling me all of t-this."

"We shouldn't have kept secrets like this from you," Stan apologized. "I mean, you have the right to know this."

"It will be okay honey." Wendy continued to hug her son as he leaned against her. "Just one more week and it will be over, I promise."

* * *

Sam Broflovski stood across the street from the Hoffman residence at 10:30 PM. He could hear the music fairly well, how anyone isn't bothered by this is beyond him. Then again, the police force in South Park isn't known for its competence, but rather its incompetence. It speaks volumes when Officer Barbrady, who quite a bit of people refer to as a dunderhead, and Craig Tucker, one of the newer officers, are essentially the most effective police officers in the department. Sam walked across the street over to the front window. Inside, the house was dark with no lights on, but he could see birthday ribbons and decorations such as balloons trashed and ripped up all over the floor. The resident boy Toby Hoffman was being hauled off by Kurt Eastwood and James Milton, carried by both his arms. About one-hundred thirty-five out of one-hundred sixty fourth grade students were inside already, and Sam would be the one-hundred thirty-sixthed. (Twenty-four fourth graders would not attend the party, Cory being amongst one of them.)

As Sam opened the front door, he saw a toy truck roll towards him. Sam quickly lept to the left side to avoid being hit by the toy truck as it landed on the lawn near the sidewalk. Sam peered inside to see no one greet him, some boys too busy wrestling each other. "Jesus Christ. This is worse than Project X, and I've seen some parts of that movie."

From the kitchen came Nikki Cartman, holding a red plastic cup in her left hand. With her free right hand, she smiled and saved to Sam. "Sam! Hey!"

Sam closed the door and met Nikki at the bottom of the stairs. "Hey Nikki!" He then peered at the cup Nikki was holding. "What is that in your cup?"

"Oh this?" Nikki held the cup to Sam so that he could see the clear, bubbling liquid. "This is just Sierra Mist. What, you think we're actually gonna drink real alcohol? This isn't Project X, we're just kids."

The two of them began to walk towards the kitchen. "So...where's the cake, Nikki? I mean, it's Toby's birthday, right?"

"By cake..." Nikki pointed to what's above the stove. It certainly was a chocolate cake on a piece of brown cardboard; however, it was torn apart, its contents and candles splattered on the cardboard along with all over the stove underneath. "It was like that when I got here."

Sam went over to the sink and peered out the window. He could see a swimming pool, along with many kids dancing around and in the pool to the music. He envied Toby for managing to have a swimming pool. While Sam did know how to swim, he often didn't get the chance, as South Park's often cold temperatures meant that trying to go around anywhere with just swimming trunks was just insane, and the only time he could do it was during summer. Of course, this wouldn't mean he'd use the pool all the time, he just liked the looks of one. On the other hand, he certainly didn't envy about a hundred of students occupying the pool and the space around it. "They look like they're having...fun."

"Yup. You want me to get you a soda, Sam?" Nikki took out an empty red cup that was stacked on a nearby counter.

"Fanta, if they have any," Sam replied.

After Nikki filled up the red cup with orange soda, she handed it to Sam. "Sorry they don't have much food left. They took it all. Jeez, the party just started half an hour ago."

"It's alright," Sam replied. "I already ate before I got here. Figured there'd be nothing but junk food anyways. Junk food which apparently is already stolen." Sam glared at the children outside, then looked back at Nikki. "That was fast."

Before either of the two could say anything else, four more boys walked into the kitchen. One had short, brown hair, who is Nate Howard, one also had brown hair but wore a red beanie, who is George Marlowe, one had blonde hair holding a video camcorder to videotape the entire party, who is Harvey Stratford, and one had black hair, who is Toby Hoffman, AKA the birthday boy. Sam immediately recognized all four boys from Mr. Garrison's class. "See, Tobes, isn't this party awesome or what?" George bragged.

"Who gave you this idea to invite LITERALLY the entire fourth grade class?" Toby glared.

"It was Will Malkinson's idea," Nate replied, "but we deserved the credit."

"It's real great footage, I'll give you that," Harvey added.

Suddenly, the oven door popped open, and a boy rolled out of the oven. He had glasses and curly brown hair, and his face was nearly as red as a chill pepper. Sam knew this person as Clarence Lewis from Mr. Garrison's class. He wasn't sure how Clarence ended up in the oven in the first place, someone had to play an awful prank at him. "You fucking fucks! I'll fuck you up!" Clarence jumped over and before anyone could stop him, with his right fist he punched George in the balls. George fell down immediately after. "That's what you get, bitch!"

"Woah, woah, calm down!" Nate tried. But Clarence punched him in the balls too. Then Toby, then Harvey.

Clarence then glared at Sam and Nikki, but both of them raised their hands up. "I-I j-j-just got here, don't punch me!" Sam pleaded.

"Yeah, I didn't lock you in either!" Nikki added.

Clarence stared at both of them for a second. He then straightened his right index and middle fingers, pointed to his eyes with them, then pointed them at Sam and Nikki. "I'm watching both of you." He then walked away.

Sam looked over at the four boys, who were on the floor gripping their groins. "Holy shit, this party is so crazy."

"Yeah, I mean, I didn't think us fourth graders had it in us," Nikki replied. "I mean, I know we're all terrible, but this? This...this is like next level terrible."

"How the hell do Toby's parents not even know about this?" Sam asked.

"Apparently they're out of of town." Nikki could see Toby hearing their conversation, nodding in agreement. "Now if you were to ask me why they aren't even around to celebrate their son's birthday...well...I don't really have a good answer."

"Maybe they hate their son," Sam joked as he drank more of his soda.

Nikki drank some of her soda, then forced a fake laugh. "Haha, you're so funny, Sam."

"Come on." Sam slyly smiled. "You know I have it in me."

As the two of them moved over to the front living room, they could see flashes of red and blue from the window. "Oh shit, it's the cops!" Sam looked around to see Toby, Harvey, and George already near the front door. "What to we do?"

However, Sam and Nikki could hear Nate from the backyard yell "SHUT UP!" and then afterward hearing no more music. The entire backyard noise died in just a span of three seconds. Nate then came back into the living room and pointed at Sam, Nikki, and Harvey. "You, you, and you, behind the couch!" Nate pointed at the couch facing towards the front window and sideways to the TV. Sam, Nikki, and Harvey did as told, with Harvey to the left, Nikki in the middle, and Sam at the far right nearest to the TV side of the wall. Harvey stuck the camcorder out from behind the couch to face the doorway.

Three knocks came down onto the door, and Sam and Nikki could both swear their hearts have never beated this quickly ever before. If their parents Kyle, Bebe, Eric, and Red knew about this, they'd be toast. Sam and Nikki held each other, shivering as silently as possible. George opened the door, and in the doorway was none other than Craig Tucker and Officer Barbrady in their police uniform.

"Police," Craig stared, his black hair blending in with the night sky. "I heard a complaint about too much noise, and coming from this residence. Are you parents home? Who's residence is this?"

"M-m-m-mine," Toby replied. He could barely register so many questions.

Craig glared at Toby. "Mhm. And may I ask why your house is a mess? And why is it so dark in here? And where are you parents? Where's Tyler and Ellen?"

"Maybe they're just doing arts and crafts, come on Tucker, you don't need to be so hard on everyone," Barbrady reasoned.

"We're fine, seriously officers, we didn't mean to cause trouble," George said.

"It's our fault, we had the music too loud," Nate added. "We won't do it anymore, I didn't realize we were disturbing the neighbors, and I'm so sorry."

"Alright, just don't do it again kids," Barbrady said kindly.

Craig took out his flashlight and shone it through the living room. Sam and Nikki could see the flashlight being shone onto the couch for two seconds. "Oh God, holy shit." Sam had to cover Nikki's mouth from speaking too loudly.

Craig then turned off the flashlight. "Birthday, huh? And based on the residence..." Craig pointed at Toby. "You're the lucky winner, and it doesn't seem like Tyler or Ellen are here? Odd."

"They might be busy," Barbrady reasoned.

"Alright." Craig then stepped back. "Well I got my eye on your three, and I have more pressing matters to attend to. Any more complaints and I won't be so nice, I can promise you that."

"We're so sorry, do have a nice evening, and happy birthday, Toby," Barbrady added.

Toby simply sighed. "Thanks." He then closed the door.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity and then some, Sam and Nikki drank the last of their sodas could hear the police car drive away. Leaving the cups on the floor, Sam, Nikki, and Harvey stood up from behind the couch and followed Nate, George, and Toby to the backyard where over a hundred students waited patiently, looking upon them as if they were gospels. And thus, Nate spoke like a true proclaiming holy cleric, "Now we party...'TIL THE CRACK OF DAWN!"

The house resurrected back to life, the children roared at the chance redemption. The music came on full blast with "Party Rock Anthem", carrying the spirits of the party. Nikki and Sam could see Kelsey at the back corner, chatting with her friends. "I hate that bitch," Nikki muttered.

"It's fine." Sam patted Nikki's back. "We came here to have fun, not to get in a fight."

"You're right." Nikki then looked up at the main house structure. It was two stories, but with two roofs, a partial one that sat between the first and second floors, and the main roof at the very top of the building. Two upstairs windows would overlook the pool, and climbing out of such windows would let them traverse on the first floor roof. Nikki knew that if she and Sam worked as a team, they could use the tiles to carry themselves onto the second floor roof at the very top. "Follow me."

"Where are we going?" Sam asked.

"A nice place to talk alone," Nikki reminded.

The two of them went back into the house and went up the stairs. They turned right into the hallway, then there were two bedrooms to the left, the first door fully open and the second door closed. The two of them went into the first door, and it had a bed but without any decorations, so they concluded this was a spare bedroom. Suddenly Sam's heart started beating. _Am I making out with Nikki?_

But then Nikki climbed onto the bed and opened the window at the far side of the bedroom. "This way," she directed.

"Damn." Sam thought he'd be making out with Nikki, but apparantly not. Sam followed Nikki out the window and now they were on the the roof of the first floor overlooking the backyard and the pool. He looked back, then up to see the main roof above them. "How are we gonna get up there?"

"We boost ourselves." Nikki went to the far corner, where the top roof would bend down at its lowest point, leaning to the left of the closed window against the wall. She squatted and brought her hands low to the level of her lap, cupping both hands together.

Sam raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Step in my hands so I can get you up there you dummy," Nikki replied.

Sam put his right foot onto Nikki's hands. Sam tried to get up but fell down. He tried again, and Nikki put all her strength into lifting Sam up. Heavily grunting, Sam managed to latch his hands onto the roofing above. He lifted himself and rolled onto the roof. "Dang, hardest climb in my life."

"Now give me your hand."

Sam looked down at Nikki, who was fully standing now. Sam stuck his right arm down to Nikki as far as he possibly could. A moment later, Nikki jumped up and grabbed Sam's hand with her right hand. Sam struggled to lift Nikki, so he used both his hands to get Nikki's right arm up, followed by the rest of her body. Nikki anchored her feet onto the walls and used the friction force between her shoes and the wall to help her climb up and not put so much strain on Sam. It did work, but took about eight seconds to finally get onto the roof and into a rest. When they both finally stood Nikki smiled at Sam. "Teamwork right there."

"We're a fine couple," Sam smirked.

"Haha, you're funny," Nikki teased.

"So why did we come up here?" Sam asked.

"So that no one would hear us when we talk," Nikki replied.

The two crawled over to near the front side and lied down on the roof looking up at the stars, Sam and Nikki next to each other, with Sam to Nikki's left. "It's a beautiful night, actually, if you ignore all the craziness below," Nikki said.

"Yeah." Sam nodded as he gazed at Nikki.

Nikki then sat up. "I have to tell you why I've been sticking up for Cory now. I can't hold it in me anymore, and I'm tired of keeping secrets from you." Sam didn't say anything but sat up as well. Gazing upon Nikki, his green eyes stared into Nikki's brown eyes, ready to listen intently. "The reason why I wanted to make myself look good is that...honestly, do you even want to know what kind of person my parents were?"

"Um...I mean, I heard some rumors and stuff," Sam replied.

"My dad tried to do a fucking holocaust, like a true Nazi, and my mom isn't that good of a person either, like even your mom thinks she's a bitch, and for a good reason too." Eric and Red weren't very good people when they were younger. "And I've been trying so hard to erase my parents'...legacy or something. I dunno."

"I've been trying to live like how my parents did, because I admire them," Sam replied. "And here, you don't want to be like your parents at all."

"Well who does?" Nikki shook her head. "I mean, many people look at me, then look at my parents, and think I'm like Satan's daughter or some shit. They assume I'm a backstabbing bitch at first sight before they even get to know me."

"Why did you follow Kelsey and the others for so long pretty much bullying every girl in the fourth grade then this year?" Sam was still trying to make sense of everything. He knew that what the girls did was no better than what Sam's ex-friends made Cory do.

"Because I had to, because I was angry and pissed." Nikki then let out a sigh. "And because I don't want to end up alone again. I mean, being mean to Cory was one thing, because he's pretty weird, but it's just...I don't know. I guess you can say all of us girls were pissed, because we were all bullied before."

"So you girls made yourself hotter than everyone else, got the acceptance of the boys, then took out your anger on everyone?" Sam then laughed. "That's a mighty fine elaborate, super convoluted plan, and yet it worked."

"It's not funny, Sam."

"Sorry."

"I lost all my friends...then again, I never had that many to begin with." Nikki looked away. "I guess the other girls at school only tolerated our group because they were so afraid of us."

"Basically this is a Mean Girls plot in real life." Sam could see the similarities to the Chick Flick with an odd cult following.

"Yeah." Nikki then looked back at Sam. "You saw that movie?"

Sam shrugged. "I watched it on TV with my family...it was alright. Just don't tell anyone." Nikki nodded. "And speaking of friends, you didn't lose everyone."

"I knew you were gonna refer to yourself." Nikki giggled and then sighed again. "All of this was a shitty excuse anyways, I should never have been mean to you in the first place, never should have called you a 'stupid Jew', I should have never been a bitch-"

"Nikki, listen." Sam put his hands on Nikki's shoulders. "You're not a bitch. You could never be a bitch. You're a bit fiery and aggressive though, I will give you that. Scares me sometimes, honestly."

"Fair enough," Nikki smiled and laughed. "I have always been a bit too aggressive for my own good." That aggression has landed Nikki into trouble more often than she could count.

"But you have good intentions though. I mean, you might fool everyone else, but you don't fool me, I know you long enough to see the good person you really are." Sam then realized what he was saying and whirled saliva in his own mouth. "I feel really weird saying all this."

"Guess guys aren't very good at all this emotional talk, huh?" Nikki giggled as she put her arms on Sam's hips.

Sam tensed up a bit from Nikki's touch. "Y-yeah. I mean, my parents weren't that nice either. They used to argue all the time. My mom always complaining my dad was never home, my dad always getting stressed out from work and my mom. And sometimes, they would take it out on us. But they never hit me or my sister."

"That's - that's good." Nikki nodded, approving that neither Sam nor Kailey had never been beaten, that she would be glad for. "I'm all for that." For a few moments, they were silent, but then Nikki piped up with something else on her mind. "Sam, how come no one's ever bullied you since first grade? Ever since you bit that one kid?"

"I don't know...I guess people thought I was an asshole freak or something." Sam chuckled. "I was really weird back then." Sam was an oddity amongst the other kids, one of the few constantly in a good mood, so contrasting to the cynicism of the rest of his peers. Because of this, they looked at Sam with suspicion.

"You seem in a good mood all the damn time," Nikki replied. "It's like none of this shit our parents put upon us even affects you."

"Who says it doesn't?" Sam's smile faded, showing a more serious frown this time. "I mean, my little sister looks up to me, to be the big protector, and if I'm sad all the time, it makes her sad, you know? I don't show it because at the end of the day, we live, and it doesn't matter how bad of a situation our parents got us in, making us all accidents and stuff like that. What matters is how we make the best of it, you know?"

That was one thing Nikki admired about Sam. While she, Kelsey, and Cory were easily kicked down and hurt, Sam, the strongest of the four persevered, determined to make the best out of a bad situation. Though it was also because he was devoted into protecting his sister, and it made Nikki realize how harshly she had treated her brother, for no good reason. "I should be a better sister to Martin. I wasn't always there for him."

"You don't have to look after him 24/7, but just ask him how he's doing sometimes, you know. He'll appreciate it." Sam gave Nikki a thumbs up.

"Yeah, I should tell him to get his ass up and start exercising more," Nikki said. "I used to be fatter."

"I know, but then you cleaned yourself up to impress boys, is what I'm guessing is the reasoning?" Sam asked.

"Well that, but also, because I actually feel a lot better...physically. I don't feel sluggish all the time anymore, I feel great." Nikki would stretch her arms if she wasn't busy holding Sam.

"I like the look," Sam admitted.

Nikki blushed, although her reddened cheeks weren't visible in the darkness. "Aw, thanks. You look pretty nice yourself..." Nikki took Sam's hat off with her right hand, revealing his short blonde hair. "If you didn't wear the hat again."

"You're right," Sam replied. "I could just ditch the hat altogether."

Just as the song switched to "Moves Like Jagger", Sam and Nikki were stuck now, they weren't sure of where to go next. They leaned closer and closer, they knew they both wanted to kiss each other. As they inched closer to each other, their hearts soared, fluttering like butterflies. But before their lips could touch, they were interrupted by chuckling and snickering of voices of boys behind them. "Oh crap!" Nikki groaned as she leaned her body to see what was behind Sam.

Indeed, it was Nate, George, Harvey, and Toby from earlier, who got up to the top roof as well. Harvey waved to Sam and Nikki as he aimed his camcorder at the couple. "Guys, check out what Toby's about to do." Harvey then pointed the camcorder at the four others.

Sam and Nikki silently looked at each other. The moment was ruined, so they might as well check out what their classmates were about to do. So they walked over to the pool side of the roof, where the other four stood. "Come on you puss," George beckoned. "Do it!"

"No, I don't want to jump into the pool from here!" Toby yelled back.

Nikki and Sam looked at each other. "That sounds like a really stupid fucking idea." Sam just shook his head silently.

"We quadruple-dog-dared you. You can't drop out from a quadruple-dog-dare." Nate looked down at the crowd, who slowly began to catch attention to the children on the roof. "See, they all want you."

"It's just a straight jump into the pool." George pointed at the pool. "What are you so afraid of?"

"Clear out of the swimming pool guys!" Harvey yelled. "We got a live one coming!" The kids in the swimming pool reluctantly did as told.

Toby let out a sigh. "Alright." As the chorus of the song was reached, he stepped back to the other side of the roof as Nikki and Sam stood out of the way. "Here goes nothing." Toby ran forward and jumped off the roof. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Moments later, he landed into the pool with such a splash it made many of the other kids wet.

"YEAH!" The other children shouted. "TOBY! TOBY! TOBY! TOBY!"

"Now it's my turn!" George said.

However, Sam and Nikki heard screeching from down below. They crawled over to the pool side of the roof and looked down to see Toby quickly depart the pool, followed by a blue sedan with Clarence Lewis in the driver's seat, all four side windows rolled down. "That's what you get, motherfuckers, for shoving me in the oven!" Clarence climbed out of the car through the driver door window as the car sank to the bottom of the nine-foot-deep pool.

"Holy fuck," Sam and Nikki both said in unison.

However, Sam and Nikki could see police cars lined up at the front, their sirens blaring into the night. "Oh shit it's the cops!" Nate yelled.

Frantically, as all of the kids began shoving their way past each other, Sam wasted no time jumping to the tree in the front yard, landing on a solid branch. "Nikki! Here!"

"I don't think I can make it!" Nikki yelled back.

"I got you, just jump!" Sam offered out his left hand as he hung onto another branch with his right hand.

Nikki nervously nodded, clutching Sam's hat with her right hand, then jumped to Sam, almost slipping if it weren't for Sam catching Nikki's left hand. "Holy shit!"

"Gotcha! Let's go down."

The two of them fell down to the ground, landing on their feet. They both wasted no time, running from the property along with the rest of the children. Because they blended in with the rest of the children, they managed to get away from the police.

Ten minutes later, the two would arrive at Sam's house. Sam checked his phone, which read 11:52 PM. "Dang, we were out for a while. Well, that was quite the party."

"Yeah." Nikki nodded.

Sam looked back at his house. The lights were still on, but it didn't matter, Kyle and Bebe told Sam earlier to be back home before 12 AM. And of course, Sam didn't break any rules, so he would be off the hook. "Glad that's over with."

"Sam, before I go...I just want to say a few things." Nikki put her hands on Sam's back.

Sam stared into Nikki's eyes as he held her by her hips. He hoped that she would agree to take him back. After all, what he hoped most was to get a kiss from Nikki, which unfortunately the birthday boy and his hooligan friends ruined the moment. "Yes?"

"About Cory..." Sam deflated when Nikki didn't mention about their relationship status. "We should both just agree to leave him alone."

"Why?" Sam asked. "I thought you wanted to help him."

"Well, I think we just made things worse, and we shouldn't mess things up further," Nikki reasoned. "I think he just wants to be left alone. It's pretty obvious he doesn't like us. And we're just making it worse"

"Yeah." Sam felt bad. This year alone, he burnt a bridge with a potential friend. His parents probably wouldn't be happy with him, but what was he going to do otherwise? "You're right. I feel like he's too far gone now. It's our fault. But the only thing we can really do now is leave him alone and never put another kid through what Cory went through ever again."

"Agreed." Nikki then stared into Sam as well. "There is one more thing before I go."

"What?" Sam asked.

"Lean in closer."

Sam did as told. A second later, to his surprise, he found Nikki's lips meet his own. Sam tried to pull away due to the suddenness, but after fully realizing what was going on, he closed his eyes as he felt his heart melt. For about fifteen seconds he felt Nikki's lips until he couldn't feel them anymore. He then lept to Nikki to hug her. "Thank you."

"Sam, your parents," Nikki choked.

Sam immediately let Nikki go as he turned towards his home, and there at the front door stood Kyle and Bebe. And suddenly, Sam's heart dropped. What would his parents think? Would they approve of this relationship? "M-m-mom, d-d-dad, I can explain-"

"Nice job!" Bebe clapped her hands.

Sam blinked twice, trying to register fully what was happening. "You...you approve of this?"

"Yeah, I mean, I know you kids are just exploring, it wouldn't be right for me to deny that," Kyle replied.

"Mr. and Mrs. Broflovski, my parents-" Nikki started.

"I know about how your parents don't want you to date my son, the Marshes told me." Kyle folded his arms. "But us, we'll approve of it as long as you don't hurt my son. And with that said, we'll both keep our mouths shut, make sure the Cartmans don't know about this."

"But that means that you have to actually be good at keeping it hidden, alright?" Bebe added.

"Yep. Thanks." Nikki then faced Sam, offering his hat with her right hand. "I think this is yours."

Sam gave it a thought before shaking his head. "You keep it, I mean it's like you said: that I look better without a hat on."

"Aw, thanks!" Nikki brought Sam's chest to her heart. "You know I'm not actually going to wear the hat, right?"

"I figured," Sam replied.

Sam and Nikki hugged one last time before Nikki finally left for home. Then Sam walked back in the house. "Guess you do have a thing for forbidden love, huh Sam?" Bebe giggled.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Ugh, why are you so weird all the time, mom?"

Kyle and Bebe both chuckled. "Alright, let's get to bed, Sam."

Sam then changed into his pajamas, brushed his teeth, and fell into bed. For the first time in a long time, he actually felt amazing. He went to a very crazy party that resulted in Toby's house getting obliterated from the inside. He did feel slightly bad about that though, but he was sure Toby enjoyed the party. He also managed to get back the girl of his dreams, the girl he had a crush on for years. He closed his eyes as he slept, knowing he could rest well after all.

* * *

 **Originally, I planned to write a Fractured But Whole fic where the story branches out of the main storyline.**

 **Due to the trolling in the South Park section, I no longer have any plans for that. I will finish this fic, but afterwards, I plan to cease writing any fanfics on this account altogether. If I do go back into writing, it will likely be on another account completely not associated with this one, and it will likely not be about South Park at all.**


	19. Chapter 19: Loose Ends

**Hey guys, busy with school, this story is not yet finished, and I managed to squeeze out this chapter.**

 **John Vanson belongs to JVM-SP150, canon characters belong to Matt & Trey.**

* * *

 **Chapter 19**

Cory Marsh sat on the couch checking his backpack one last time that he had everything he needed for school. _Just one more week,_ he told himself. After he was satisfied that he brought all the paperwork and school utensils he needed, he zipped up his backpack. One more week of school left until summer break, and then he would hope he'd never have to see anyone from school ever again. But he also knew that this week would be a long one, and there would be no way people will let him off the hook so easily.

Wendy knelt down in front of Cory, running her fingers of her right hand through Cory's hair. "Just one more week, honey. Just don't do anything too rash."

Stan knelt down besides Wendy. "Promise to stay safe."

Cory sniffled as he nodded his head. "Okay." He then got up off the couch, hugged Stan and Wendy tightly, then left for the bus.

When the door closed, Wendy sat down on the couch and began to sob tears. "Oh my gosh, what are we doing? We shouldn't be letting Cory go to school."

"Wendy, it's okay." Stan sat next to Wendy's right and put his left arm around her. "But we can't do anything about it now."

"Good parents don't let their children go off to...t-t-to a school like that!" Wendy shot back. "We should have switched him schools sooner."

"I know you're worried about him, I am too." Stan let out a sigh. "But in case you haven't noticed, what if Cory doesn't get along with the other children at the other elementary school? I mean, I don't think being bullied for like - forever would let him develop social skills..." Stan took his left arm off Wendy and sat back on the couch. "Oh what am I saying? I shouldn't be saying stuff like this."

"No you're partly right," Wendy said as she looked up at Stan. "But wait one more week? I'm scared, what about the other children, what are they going to do for one more week?"

Stan shrugged. "All we can really do is pray at this point. It will be alright, Wendy."

Cory would wait outside for a few minutes, not talking to anyone. Then the bus would come, yelling like usual, Cory getting on, and ending in the bus jumping into a sudden, near-instantaneous acceleration. Cory would sit alone near the front of the bus like usual. Then the bus would make a sudden stop at the school, and Cory would then get off only to be pushed among other students into the school building. Walking to his locker, he would open it, throw his backpack in, slam the locker door, and then turn around, expecting unfriendly company of some sort standing behind him while he was doing business at his locker, like usual.

Except no one was standing behind him today. Cory sighed in relief, despite what happened last Friday, at least thing were going somewhat smoothly today. No one would be bothering, not even Sam, Nikki, nor John.

When Cory entered the classroom, he noticed that the other students were standing around chatting amongst themselves, not even taking notice at Cory's presence. Usually, they would give a deathly cold glare at Cory, but not today, and Cory sighed in relief again. Even Sam, Nikki, and John didn't even bother giving Cory any attention, and for that, Cory was thankful.

Mr. Garrison wore a rather smug expression on his face when he walked in, which struck Cory as odd. Usually, Mr. Garrison would seem unhappy and pissed off, but not today. At that moment, Cory knew this day would be especially peculiar, nothing was going according to the usual routine - arguably a good thing for Cory however.

"Welcome, kids, to the last week of your hell and my hell." Mr. Garrison then smiled a knowing, wicked grin. "So how was your weekend, everyone?"

"I think...you know..." Sarah Hendricks, one of Cory's classmates, grunted weakly. The other children could only let out moans.

"Damn right I know, you idiots are crazier than I ever was! Crashing Toby's birthday for you to trash his entire house, I don't know what kind of neanderthals raised you...oh wait, I do know what mongloids raised you children, my bad." Mr. Garrison let out a snarky laugh, and the other children could only glare coldly at the teacher. "Enough of that, let's get started." Mr. Garrison walked over to his desk, bent down underneath, then stood up, holding a red rubber ball. "I figured you children would be in a hangover."

"There was no alcohol, as far as I was aware of," Toby Hoffman countered.

"Oh really? Well that's - that's good! You kids shouldn't even be drinking anyways." Mr. Garrison twirled the ball on his right middle finger, pushed it into the air, and caught it with both of his hands. "I think it's time we start with an exercise, to warm you kids up. Stand up in your desks." The children did as told. "When I throw to you this ball, you say one good thing about yourself, then pass it on to someone else. Anything good, but please keep it appropriate. Now one good thing about myself...I consider myself a good teacher." Some of the other students snickered. "Oh? Alright then, since you think it's funny, why don't you go next, Walker?" Mr. Garrison then threw the ball to Walker Irvington.

"Alright, well I can do snowboard tricks," Walker said.

"What kind of tricks?" Travis Brent asked.

"I did a 720-degree spin once," Walker boasted.

"That's very nice, now go pass it to someone else." Mr. Garrison rolled his eyes.

Walker then tossed the ball to Toby. "I can make the best parties." Toby flashed a smile.

"You're just lucky," Carter Jenkins retorted.

"You're just jealous." Toby then threw the ball to Charlie Brown, but it hit him in the face.

"Ow!" Most of the class laughed as Charlie Brown fell backwards onto Sam's desk.

Mr. Garrison shook his head. "Alright, class, enough of your bullshit. Just because you're all insecure about yourselves doesn't mean you need to take out your frustrations on Charlie here." That shut the rest of the students up real quick. "Now, Charlie, hurry up and speak, or I'm going to move on."

"Alright, well I have read the book 'War and Peace'." As some of the other students snickered, Charlie threw the ball to Ricky Oswald.

"I can play guitar," Ricky said as he threw the ball to Mary Lawrie.

"I can sing well," Mary said as she threw the ball to Kelly Leone.

"I'm a fast runner," Kelly said as she threw the ball to Diane Dimmons.

"I can play tennis," Diane said as she threw the ball to Cory.

Cory was busy trying to figure out what he was exactly good at, but unfortunately nothing came to mind. Thus, when he received the ball from Diane, it was followed by a long silence. The other students stared at Cory. "Well?" Mr. Garrison tapped his right foot impatiently.

"I-I-I-I'm not sure." Cory's heart was beating faster, anxiety increasing from all of the stares of his classmates.

"Aren't you good at _anything_ at all?" Mr. Garrison glared.

"I - I don't know." From Cory's response, the other students started snickering.

"Oh my gosh. Outside, Cory. Now." Mr. Garrison pointed at the door, and Cory dropped the ball on his desk. Mr. Garrison followed Cory outside the classroom, and when the door was shut, and he was sure no one would be looking, he focused his gaze upon Cory. "Cory, I am frankly getting sick of your poor attitude, I am getting tired of your stupid angsty act. Your negativity is impeding on the focus of others."

"I don't care about the other children, they're nothing but awful to me!" Cory shouted.

"You need to take responsibility for your own behavior, Cory, no one's going to babysit you just because you have a 'harder' life than others. I had a good thing going, and you ruined it, like usual." Mr. Garrison turned away sighing, then turned back to Cory. "I'll find a way to snuff out your bad attitude, even if it has to last this last week of school, you'll see, now get your ass back to class, I actually have a class to teach."

Cory almost spat out a homophobic insult to piss off Mr. Garrison but held his tongue just enough to not do so. Grumbling, he begrudgingly went back into the classroom to prepare for the new lesson.

As Cory sat next to Kelsey, he would becoming so anxious, so self-conscious that he could not concentrate at school. He feared Kelsey emotionally tearing him apart, and that fear ate him so badly he could never pay attention for the entirety of today. For the entirety of morning and lunch recess, Cory was alone like usual. While others would peak at Cory, no one interacted with him. It was still harsh being ignored all the time, but at least he wasn't being openly harassed today.

"...and so, the eggs get fertilized, then after nine months, it becomes a baby, and the baby goes out into the real world. Any questions about how pregnancy works, class?" Only Sam raised his hand. "Yes Sam?"

"We learn this like every year. Why do you have to teach us sex ed again?" Sam's voice was forceful, impatient, and showed his annoyance.

"Well, Sam, that is a good question. Do you really want to know the real reason?" When the other students nodded, Mr. Garrison continued. "Every year, since twenty years ago, we're mandated by law to teach sex ed. And the reason dates back to twenty years ago when a young boy was playing the game of 'red rocket' with his dog, which consists of masturbating the dog's penis. He did this in front of his parents and got grounded. Therefore, his parents complained to the school faculty saying that children learn about sex too early and that they need us to teach them responsibly. But then when we tried teaching them, things turned into a gender war. But the year after, and every year after that, we refined our sex ed course, so here we are. And we can all thank Cory's dad, Stan Marsh."

The rest of the class stared at Cory, who could only shrink in his chair. "W-what's happening?"

"Cory, were you even paying any attention to my lecture?" Mr. Garrison asked.

"Y-yes!" Cory shot back.

"What did I say?" Mr. Garrison asked.

"Um...wildfires?" Most of the class (except Sam, Nikki, John, and Leslie) roared with laughter as Cory sunk deeper into his chair, ready to cry from the embarassment.

"No, I was not talking about wildfires, you smartass, I was talking about pregnancy!" Mr. Garrison yelled.

"Maybe he was too busy staring at Kelsey like usual," Cindy Tucker joked. Most of the class laughed even harder. Cory was nearly close to breaking at this point.

Well he would, except the phone rang. "Alright, kids, shut up." As the class quieted down, Mr. Garrison picked up the phone. "Herbert Garrison here...uh huh...yep...fascinating. I'll send him your way. Thanks." Mr. Garrison put the phone down. "Cory, the counselor wants to see you."

"I thought Mackey left," Cory stated.

"He did, it's the new counselor that wants to see you," Mr. Garrison said. "John Vanson."

Cory quickly left the classroom then started walking towards the counselor's office. He wasn't sure what the new counselor was like. Given the track record of the type of faculty Cory ended up with over the years, he had little hope that this new counselor would acutally be decent. As far as he knew, John Vanson could be as politically aggressive as PC Counselor (Principal) and as stupid as Mr. Mackey. When Cory finally happened upon the door to the counselor's office, two teachers Mrs. Beatles and Mr. Uno came out of the office, not taking any notice upon Cory. Cory looked in, and in there he saw a man about Stan's and Wendy's age. His brown hair was short, and he wore a pair of glasses with a thick, black frame, a light-blue shirt, and khaki pants. On the desk was an aluminum-plated nametag with his name carved into it, "John Vanson" and a picture held within a wooden frame. There were two wooden chairs between the doorway and Vanson's desk for Cory to sit.

John Vanson motioned Cory in. "Ah, you must be Cory Marsh. I've been expecting you. Close the door and take a seat, please."

Cory did as told. The first thing Cory noticed about the picture is that it showed Vanson, along with Annie Nelson, now Annie Vanson, and Helen Tweek, one of Cory's classmates and was the daughter of Tweek Tweak. "I know her, she's from my class."

"Oh this thing?" Vanson picked up the frame. "Well I am Helen's stepfather."

"Stepfather?" Cory asked. "Who was the real dad then?"

Mr. Vanson let out a sigh. "It was Tweek Tweak...uh, you probably don't know him. I was told he couldn't handle the pressure of being a dad so he just ran off and left Annie, my wife. Too bad too, I knew him and Annie since we were your age." Vanson then smiled. "Anyways, that doesn't matter anymore, Annie and I are happily married, we're gonna have a new kid soon too." Cory silently nodded. "Alright, well, on to discuss about you. I've read your file, what the other faculty have told me about your situation...I am sorry, you know."

Just thinking about the pain Cory had experienced for years wanted to put him in tears again, for nearly the hundredth time this month. "T-thanks."

"Let's start with yourself." Mr. Vanson folded his hands together. "Your backstory, you know."

"Well..." A lump formed in Cory's throat. He wasn't sure if Mr. Vanson could be considered friend or foe yet. "I'm - I've been around h-here my whole life...my parents...um..."

Mr. Vanson held his palm out. "Spare me the details, I know what your parents have done...but I can't imagine you finding out this way...especially from a girl you claim you have a crush on, is that correct?" Cory nodded. "How does that make you feel?"

"B-bad." Cory didn't have the courage to say anything else.

"Is that the biggest contributing factor to your sadness?" Mr. Vanson asked.

"No." Cory sniffled a little before continuing on. "Everyone's mean to me at school. They've always treated me like I'm crap, like I'm nothing. I guess it connects with the fact I was never supposed to exist in the first place. I guess I am a worthless piece of crap."

Mr. Vanson frowned. He looked down at his palms, wondering how to proceed. This was his first time ever being a school counselor, and already, he had been tossed into having to deal with such an emotionally scarred student, one he had never seen in his lifetime ever. What made matters worse was that this student was the direct offspring of the couple who had never looked fondly at Vanson since elementary school, who often berated him for being a creep and pervert when he was younger. The situation was incredibly daunting, and what made matters worse is that he had to prove he wasn't as incompetent as the counselors before him. "Look I...how do you see yourself at school?"

"I don't know..." Cory looked back at the photo of Vanson's family, then back to his own lap. "I mean, I'm not that good at school. People tell me I'm just a waste of air, that I'll never amount to anything, and they're right."

"Cory, you're not worthless. I've been in your situation before, I used to be one of the more hated kids." John Vanson could remember the times back when he was a student at South Park Elementary when no one wanted to be around him due to his "nerdiness" and obsession with sexual topics. "I know what I used to do is that I would pretend everyone is my friend and would just follow them around anyways."

"But wouldn't you just be lying to yourself then?" Cory asked. "I mean, I still hate how my parents lied to me about their past...why would I do that to myself?"

"What about Samuel Broflovski and Nicole Cartman? Haven't you ever tried to befriend them? I've been told you have quite the interaction with them."

"They hate me," Cory replied. "I'm sure of it."

"What about John Donovan?" Vanson asked as he continued to skim Cory's file. "I've been told John would be willing to help you out-"

"No way! He was a complete asshole to me all year, I can't forgive him for what he did to me!" Cory folded his arms. "And then Nikki and Sam just - just fueled all the bullshit and now they're off acting like they're a married while I'm just - just stuck being harassed still! And my parents...there's no way I can forgive any of them when all they've ever done is stab me in the back! And then Kelsey...oh God..." At that moment, Cory broke down, elbows on knees, face in hands, as he began sobbing into his hands. "I h-h-h-hate school! I h-h-hate everything about this place!"

Before today, Vanson would have expected the offspring of Stan and Wendy to be - in lack of better words - a jerk jock. But seeing Cory in such a demented state like this only made Vanson himself want to cry in anger at how people could treat a human being worse than a dog. "It's - it's not your fault-"

"Of course it isn't, they f-f-fucking did this to me!" Cory continued to cry.

Vanson leaned forward to pat Cory on his head. For this specific circumstance, there wasn't much advice he could give Cory, as everything that happen to him generally wasn't his fault at all. "It's alright, Cory. Listen, if you ever need to vent out anything at all, I'm here for you, okay? But that means you have to trust me as well. Whatever you say, I'll keep confidential unless you don't want me to."

Cory paused for a few moments. He wasn't sure how much he could trust Vanson. Fortunately though, he was sure no other student would hear. "I had a crush on Kelsey...but, um...what she said to me..." Cory sniffled some more.

John Vanson nodded, remembering the times he tried to get with Wendy and her friends back in elementary school. After a long pause, Vanson took it as if Cory had nothing more to say. "What made you take a liking into her?"

"S-s-she is really pretty," Cory admitted, trying to hide the blush on his cheeks by looking down at his lap.

Vanson nodded. "Ah, the mindset of young boys. I remember being just like you once."

"But then she said she's always hated me, and then told everyone at school the stuff between my parents...I don't know how to feel about her anymore," Cory said.

"If she's that mean to you, maybe it's best you move on, Cory." Vanson could recount the amount of times he'd been through Cory's situation when it came down to girls (to which there were plentiful). "I mean, don't get me wrong, what she did was horrible to you, and I am not excusing that, but I think it's best if you stayed away from people who had been nothing but cruel to you. There are other people out there, have you tried making amends with Nikki and Sam?"

"I don't know, I feel like we're just not meant to be friends ever," Cory replied. "I-I let them down."

"So you were previously saying it was their fault, and now you say it's all your fault?" Vanson meant the question in more of a curios manner rather than a confronting one.

"Well...I guess I did tell Sam to kill himself, but Nikki wasn't that nice to me either, I don't know. And my parents...I want to forgive them, but..." Cory's fingers trembled as he watched the clock above Mr. Vanson, which now read 1:57 PM.

Vanson read over the files about Cory given to him by the faculty. After thinking about it long and hard for two minutes, he finally came up with his answer. "I think the real problem here is forgiveness." Cory glared at Vanson, but Vanson continued on. "You'll gladly admit that you are partially at fault, which I admire, however, at the same time I know you seem to have trouble forgiving people...hmm...okay, you say it's their fault, but you say it's your fault as well."

"I don't know, I guess I'm just confused," Cory replied. "I guess I'm just an idiot."

"Well that's a lot less true than others want you to believe. I know you consider your own background and backstory less than ideal for your standards, and to be honest, a lot of people would...your parents did stupid things and it negatively affect your image...the people at school let you down...but you shouldn't let them make you feel powerless, but in order to do that, you have to come to peace, accept who you are, and to not fear those willing to reach out and help you. I'm not saying you shouldn't improve yourself, but you should accept who you are and make the best of it."

Cory nodded, understanding. "But that won't stop the bullies though."

"True, but don't let those bullies put you down, because in the end, how much you're really capable of is up to you, not what the bullies say about you. And finally, you should respect your parents too and forgive them. I know they've committed quite a bit of...um...atrocities...when they were younger, but they're still human beings, they make mistakes, they let lust and self image get the best of them. But they've still love you and will always be with you until the day they die."

"It's - it's just hard when they try to keep this all from me," Cory countered.

"I know, but you have to try to see from their perspective - they grew up too fast, but you are like a gift to them, you're unique in which unlike other couples, you made your parents get their acts together."

It was unnerving that a man Cory never knew prior to today knew as much as he did about Cory's parents, which begged the certain question. "H-h-how do you know all this?"

"If they didn't care about you, would I be speaking with you right now?"

Cory nodded, finally realizing that Stan and Wendy must have arranged the meeting with Vanson, how much they cared so much for him, and how he didn't thank them enough. "I-I messed up, I really messed up..."

"Cory, it's not your fault, I know you're not happy with the way things are, but you shouldn't blame yourself...just don't be afraid of your parents, they're there to help you, not hurt you."

Cory nodded. "How come...if you're in the same graduating class as my parents, how come you don't have children?"

"Me?" Vanson laughed. There is a certain irony that the flirtatious John Vanson ended up avoiding the the burdens of having a child. "It's because I'm careful, and I have my...ways. Any other questions?" After Cory shook his head, Vanson nodded and smiled. "Also, if anyone give you any trouble, don't hesitate to tell the faculty. And one last thing before you go, the faculty and I have already discussed a way to punish your class for being so cruel to you this year."

Cory raised an eyebrow. "What kind of punishment?"

"I think you'll find it...uh...quite entertaining. You'll see. Take care."

"Bye."

After Cory left the office, John Vanson opened his desk drawer and pulled out a poster. It showed two Butters Stotchs (one only showing his head) as a ten-year-old in a black rectangle, one facing the reader and the other Butters' looking upward and to the right. The white outer frame read "Stan Marsh's Stop Bullying Premiere". "Herbert Garrison is definitely a genius sometimes," John Vanson said to himself. "This will definitely be glorious."

When Cory finally returned to his classroom, he noticed that there was a magnetic board that was attached to the blackboard. One column was labeled "BOYS" and the other was labeled "GIRLS", but the contents of both columns underneath were empty...for now. "How good of you to join us, Cory, just in time too." Cory then took his seat. "Okay, children, for the final week of school, you will be doing a project about a physics, chemistry, or biology topic or phenomenon of your choosing, and this is a short presentation that will be due Wednesday." All of the children groaned because of the strict deadline. Mr. Garrison proceeded to take a piece of chalk and write the word "SCIENCE" on the board. He then went on. "Oh quite a lot of you desperately need the extra points so I wouldn't be whining if I were you. Now, you do have to have some kind of visual, like bringing an example to class or showing us a PowerPoint Presentation. I'm going to pair all the boys and girls into couples. I will then hand out a sheet of paper of all possible topics you can do."

"Ew! Boys!" some of the girls said.

Mr. Garrison rolled his eyes at the lack of maturity some of the students showed. "Shut up. Anyways, when I announce your names, please move and sit with the person you're paired with." Mr. Garrison then began to place nametags of children in boy-girl pairs inside the columns. "Kat Allen, you're with Charlie Brown." Kat let out a groan in response. "Walker Irvington, you're with Diane Dimmons."

Cory leaned his left cheek on his left hand. _This is stupid. Two fucking days to do a science presentation? Well at least that means it's an easy A+, which will then put me to a C...right? Right?_ Cory let out a sigh. I hope I don't get a bitch for my partner. I hate this class.

"Sam Broflovski, you are with Nicole Cartman," Mr. Garrison said. Sam and Nikki beamed with delight.

At least that ruled out the possibility for Cory to ever be partnered with Nikki again for a second project in a row, and for that, he was thankful. But as Mr. Garrison went through the names, Cory suddenly began to realize that Kelsey's name hadn't been called yet either. And then...

"Cory Marsh, you are with..."

 _Don't fucking say it!_

"...Kelsey McCormick."

At last, Cory realized that this day would be just as terrible as the rest. He felt like a rock had hit the bottom of his gut. He felt he could almost poop in his pants. Nevermind the whispers that erupted through the classroom, what was he going to say to her? How was he going to work with a girl he had a crush on, while she hated his guts?

After all of the names were announced, Mr. Garrison began to pass out the papers of possible science topics to each couple. "Discuss things with me once you have chosen a topic. Only one group per topic. And remember, there's not much time so I suggest you get started as soon as possible. I'm not looking for a ten minute presentation but at least make it seem like you have some idea what you're talking about."

Seeing as how Cory already sat directly right of Kelsey, they decided to just sit in place. He slowly turned to Kelsey to try to read her expression. It was somewhat blank, but Cory wouldn't get his guard down. "I guess we're together then, huh?" Kelsey grumbled, refusing to make eye contact with Cory.

"Y-yeah," Cory stuttered, his heartbeats quickening due to the fear of what Kelsey might do to him this time.

Kelsey quickly skimmed the single sheet of paper the two were given. "I have no idea what all of these topics are. I've never seen them. Stupid Mr. Garrison. Let's just pick the coolest sounding one, I guess."

"S-sure," Cory said quietly.

"What about magnets?" But as Kelsey spoke, she could hear Nikki and Sam discuss the same topic. Then the latter two got up and walked over to Mr. Garrison, and realizing what they were going to do, Kelsey clenched her fists and groaned. "Aw man, fuck those two!" Cory remained silent as Kelsey let out a stressed sigh. "Ugh. Okay, what about...refraction?"

Cory shrugged. "F-fine. Let's do it."

After Mr. Garrison confirmed everyone's topics, the bell rang and the children departed the classroom. Sam and Nikki sat next to each other on the bus, watching Cory and Kelsey sit five seats in front of them. They both could clearly see that Cory and Kelsey did not interact with each other, with Cory looking out the window due to being at the window seat, and Kelsey looking towards the ceiling.

"What the heck was Mr. Garrison thinking, pairing Cory and Kelsey together?" Nikki found it astonishing that Mr. Garrison would pair two kids who weren't exactly on good terms.

"I have no idea, but I don't think they'll do much." Sam shook his head as he turned away from Cory and Kelsey and gazed towards Nikki. "Probably just gonna work silently and then that's that." Sam smiled. "He'll be fine."

"How can you say that?" Nikki replied. "Kelsey - she'll tear him apart or something."

"Nikki, sometimes you ought to not be so cynical or something. Besides, we really should stop worrying about them," Sam countered.

Nikki, Sam, Kailey, Martin, Kelsey, and Cory all got off at the same bus stop. After the bus departed, Cory and Kelsey found themselves staring at the former four. No words were exchanged, but only glares from Nikki and Sam upon Kelsey. Cory watched the tense staring contest, unsure of what will eventually culminate, but the former four ended up taking the high road, turning their backs upon Kelsey and Cory, and walking the other direction.

"Guess that's that." Kelsey sighed in relief, glad that it wouldn't result in another verbal altercation or worse. She began walking the opposite direction from the former four. "I think you live near me. Let's just go." Cory obeyed without hesitation.

For ten minutes, the pair walked in complete silence, the only audible sounds were their footsteps, cars, and town citizens who happened to be outside their homes for whatever reason. Interestingly, both of them figured they should at least try to make conversation with each other to ease the tension and awkwardness, but neither had the courage to initiate it.

They finally reached Kelsey's house, painted beige and structured as normally as most of the other houses in South Park. There were no cars in the driveway, so Kelsey's father Kenny was likely not to be home. Kelsey took out a key from her right pants pocket, unlocked the front door, and beckoned Cory inside. Afterwards, they shut the door. It was rather dark inside the house, but there wasn't really anything inside that was out of the ordinary. It was neat, but lacking of any pictures or decorations.

"Do you...want anything to eat or drink?" Kelsey sighed again. As much as she didn't like Cory, she had to at least act somewhat civil and offer a bare minimum of hospitality.

"N-no." Cory's voice croaked, his ability to hide his tension and discomfort terrible. And unfortunately for him, Kelsey knew how nerve-wracking the awkward interaction must be for Cory - she just didn't care. His eyes moved over to a framed picture erect on a small table next to the stairs. Taking a closer look, he could see an a much younger version of Kenny holding an infant, likely Kelsey. He stood next to a beautiful blonde woman whose hair was tied in a ponytail, one Cory had never seen before. "Who's that woman? I mean I know the guy is your dad but...you know..."

"It's my mom," Kelsey replied.

"What happened to her?" Cory asked.

Kelsey's heart dropped, remembering the painful memories as she looked down at her shoes. "It's...nothing important. Let's just get our stupid project done."

The two went up the stairs and entered Kelsey's bedroom. It was laid out much like Cory's, towards the back wall under the window a bed, and to the left of the doorway Kelsey's desk. What did catch Cory's attention was the model of a B-17 Bomber made out of small Popsicle sticks glued together to resemble the fighter plane's structure, resting on the nightstand. Cory hovered over the model, amazed at Kelsey's craftsmanship. "Woah, this is cool."

"Don't touch it!" Kelsey screeched.

"Kelsey, you have to admit-"

"Don't. Touch."

Cory threw his hands up in the air. "Fine. Let's just get this project over with."

For the next hour until 4:40 PM, Cory and Kelsey managed to work diligently on their research. Whenever they spoke to each other, it was only about their project, and nothing else. They both could say that refraction in general is the bending of light when it entered a new medium, such as traveling through a glass cube. Developing their slides with bullet points and images was especially easy, and the more Cory worked, the more he learned how good Kelsey was at science. Between how efficiently she researched, and the model bomber she made out of popsicle sticks, she certainly broke stereotypes of a basic popular girl when it came to interests. Kelsey didn't complain, while she knew Cory needed the A, Kelsey didn't want to get below an A on the project either, and to Cory's credit, he did do his best to help Kelsey extrapolate useful information from websites. Kelsey did not compliment Cory at all, however, nor did she thank him.

Unfortunately, the pair hit a major roadblock once it came down to actually rehearsing the speech. Because of Cory's constant mix-up of words and forgetting to switch slides whenever he was supposed to, Kelsey was starting to grow impatient, and by the nineteenth time, it began.

"Cory, it's not hard!" For Kelsey, working with Cory on a speech was so terrible she wished she had a revolver on hand so she could shoot herself in the head. It pained her to see Cory forget his lines and stutter all the time during his speeches, though in Kelsey's mind, she believed Cory never prepared and was simply too lazy to try at school. "Can you just - like, just stop dicking around and actually try for once?"

"I-I'm trying, it's - it's just..." Cory couldn't find the right wording though, his mind all over the place, and being confronted (once again) by his ex-crush did not help one bit.

"I'm the one doing all the work around here, I'm literally carrying your ass on this project!" Kelsey turned away from Cory and back to her computer. "Holy shit, why do I have to be paired up with you?!"

Cory sighed, not even bothering to try to respond. However, on the nightstand next to the model bomber was a picture in a frame. He picked up the picture in the frame and examined it. It was a very young and cheerful Sam, Nikki, and Kelsey in that order sitting in a chair secured in by a metal bar, quite likely on some amusement park or carnival ride. The three children were no more than four years old. However, Kelsey wasn't at the very right end of the chair, and seeing the picture drew back memories to Cory. It was as if something was missing, as if he remembered being on that ride, but he wasn't shown in this picture. Something about the picture was certainly off.

"What the hell are you doing?" Cory nearly jumped as he saw Kelsey glare at him. "Put that down so we can rehearse the speech!"

"We still have tomorrow..." Cory then showed Kelsey the photo. "There's something not right about this picture, something's missing."

"Nothing's missing, you idiot, now put it down!"

"W-why are you so mean to me all the time?" Cory asked. Kelsey did not answer, choosing to remain silent. "Well?"

Kelsey looked down at the floor. "I don't think you want to know."

"Tell me!"

Both children exhaled. Both of their hearts were beating, blood rushing quickly through their veins. But Kelsey did not budge so easily. "Not telling."

Cory shook his head as he crossed his arms. "You know, I used to feel bad when you were bullied before, but now I realize you're actually just a bitch."

It wasn't being called a bitch that put Kelsey off, no, rather, it was Cory's mentioning of her being bullied. She glared at Cory again, this time, gritting her teeth, her eyes with fire. "You have no idea what bullying actually is."

Cory mouthed Kelsey's exact words with a mocking face as he started leaning back on his chair in a way in which his char only stood on its hind legs. "Really? Go and throw a stupid-ass cliche statement at me? Because just last week I got a black eye-" Cory pointed to his own left eye, which now only had a purple line underneath his eye, "-kicked in the balls - man fuck you! D-d-don't give me that shit! How come whenever I try to get myself heard, people think I'm just trying to garner fake sympathy or something?!"

"You haven't been called 'white trash' or 'slut' ever." Kelsey shook her head in frustration. "I mean, none of us has had sex, we're just kids, but apparently it's the cool thing to do, which is to throw around the word 'slut' as a casual insult! It's like using the word 'faggot' as an insult or something, not like you could ever comprehend that!"

"I get it, actually, I really do." Cory was getting tired of being treated like a moron. Perhaps his grades weren't all that stellar, but no one ever gave him credit for anything when he deserved some. "But I don't understand why you're such an awful person to me when-" Unfortunately, Cory didn't realize he was leaning too far back on the chair, so he fell backwards onto the ground, his head hitting something that wasn't exactly hard nor soft either. He wasn't hurt too badly and managed to get up quickly, but not before he heard an ear-piercing scream from Kelsey. Looking at the ground, he realized that he broke Kelsey's model bomber, the popsicle sticks scattered all over the floor.

"Ah!" Kelsey pushed Cory to the bed as she gripped the popsicle sticks in her hand. Then her head suddenly twisted to Cory, her knuckles clenched, now angrier than ever before "YOU FUCKING RUINED IT! THE LAST MONTH - I W-WORKED SO HARD ON THIS, AND NOW YOU RUINED IT!"

Cory moved over to his backpack, starting to gather up his things into there. He figured that now it was a good time to leave. "Kelsey, I'm so sorry-"

"GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!" Still on the ground, Kelsey started throwing popsicle sticks at Cory with rage. While the sticks themselves didn't hurt, Cory covered his eyes with his left arm anyways, not wanting to be accidentally blinded by a raging blonde girl.

"Alright, jeez!"

Without another word, Cory immediately booked it from Kelsey house, not looking back. Kelsey was in a mix of anger and crying as one of her most prized recent creations had been obliterated by a "blithering idiot". She knew she should have just complained to Mr. Garrison to switch partners.

* * *

By 10:30 PM, Kelsey was already over her model bomber being broken, now busy watching The Big Bang Theory. Kenny had left a note on the fridge that mentioned that he left spaghetti in the refrigerator, and Kelsey devoured her portion. The entire house was completely dark, the only lighting being the active TV screen. Just then, her ears perked up as as he heard the front door unlock itself and open, inviting in a cool breeze.

In came Kenny McCormick, this time only wearing a green T-shirt and jeans. His hair was still slightly messy, although much shorter than when he was in his youth. Other than that, he looked much like another ordinary citizen. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"I wasn't that tired. Oh." Kelsey reached into her left pants pocket, pulled out an onyx analog watch, and offered it to Kenny. "Here. I fixed this up for you."

Kenny took the watch and wore it on his left wrist. Looking closely at the watch, he could see both the short-hand and long-hand rotating clockwise like it was supposed to. "Nice. Wait...how the heck did you find the money to fix this up for me?"

Kelsey slyly smirked. "Drugs. I sell hardcore drugs."

"Like hell you do. You've been watching too many gangster movies I bet." Kenny sat down to watch TV with his daughter, and it only took him two seconds to realize what was on. "Or I guess it was somehow _The Big Bang Theory_ that taught you how to be a thug."

"You're so funny, dad," Kelsey chuckled.

Kenny's smile faded as his mind wavered onto a more serious topic now. "I heard about you and Cory...why'd you throw popsicle sticks at him?"

"Dad, he broke my model plane-"

"Kelsey." Kenny's and Kelsey's eyes met. "I know you're still probably not happy for him pushing you down, but he's been through a lot, and he doesn't need another person harassing him now."

"I can explain-"

"Listen." Kenny sighed, as he knew what he was about to bring up may not sit very well with Kelsey. "Do you remember the times you would come home crying that other mean girls would take your stuff and call you names? Do you remember how I would care for you regardless of what others said and told you things will be okay? I want you to treat Cory the same way I treated you."

The memories brought a tear in Kelsey's right eye but she quickly wiped it out. "I...I know, dad, but-"

"No 'buts'. I don't need to give Stan and Wendy an excuse to skin me alive or something. Good Lord, whenever they're angry..." Kenny stood up and walked over to the small table at the stairs. He picked up the framed picture a much younger version of Kenny holding Kelsey the infant, standing next to a beautiful blonde woman. "Kelly." He and Kelly had gotten together towards the end of their fourth grade and ironically, conceived Kelsey in the same manner Stan and Wendy conceived Cory.

Hearing the name, Kelsey looked over the couch at Kenny. "You miss mom, huh? I miss her too."

"Yeah." If Kenny could see Kelly again, he would tell her everyday how sorry he was, but unfortunately, the chances of her ever coming back would be slim, if not impossible. There would be no way Kelly would want to associate herself with a family who was seen to be as trashy as their ancestors, especially not after the way Kelsey came about. "Alright, turn the TV off and get to bed."

"Yes, dad."

Kelsey brushed her teeth and changed into her pajamas. Her bedroom floor was now clean, the popsicle sticks deposited into the trashcan next to her desk. _It's like everything I work hard on, every model I built, just gets completely destroyed, as if I shouldn't even bother doing any work at all. At least I'm good looking, I guess._ She took off her black hairband placed it on the nightstand in front of the picture of toddlers of Sam, Nikki, and Kelsey - and that was what grabbed her attention.

 _"There's something not right about this picture, something's missing."_

Cory's words burned in Kelsey's mind. As Kelsey took a closer look at the picture, she began to realize Cory was right. Something _was_ missing, but what? She took the picture out of the frame and held the picture itself. She knew it was aged, but it still made sense. Running her right fingers along the picture's backside, she felt an edge. She moved the edge to the right only to realize that the rest of the picture unfolded itself. On the photo side, there was a crease to the right of where Kelsey sat, and to the right of that crease was Cory, who was the same age as Sam, Nikki, and Kelsey, all on the right. Suddenly, Kelsey remembered that this picture was taken on a Ferris Wheel in a Christmas carnival.

Was Cory really Kelsey's friend at once point? Why had they ever separated? Did Kelsey hate him so much to the point she hid him away from the memory and tucked it away until she could remember no more? Perhaps Kenny was right. At last, she began to see meaning in the photo, and there could be no question, no doubt, that she would eventually regret shoving away and alienating a potential friend who could have helped her in the past, but instead, may have made another enemy, which in the position she was in right now, was the last thing she needed. She studied the photo some more, how cheerful Cory was just sitting next to Kelsey enjoying the time, as opposed to today, where all she could remember seeing in him was anger and hate. It was that old familiar feeling.

Nevertheless, Kelsey did not sleep well that night.

* * *

 **I don't have much else to say at this point, just hope that it's well done. Review, follow, favorite, and I'll see you next time.**


	20. Chapter 20: Reborn

**So a combination of things is delaying me: school, and the fact that I don't think I like writing drama as much as I originally thought.**

* * *

 **Chapter 20**

Kelsey McCormick sat at the dining table with Kenny while eating her Cheerios. She had the same thoughts about Cory as she did last night, they did not clear away from her mind. Both of them began the simple meal silently. Kenny, however, felt something odd in his right pants pocket. Reaching into it, he pulled out an iPhone with a pink case - one that isn't his.

"Oh fuck." Kenny groaned. "How did I end up with her cell phone last night? Oh man..."

Immediately, Kelsey knew what had happened last night. "Dad, why do you have to sleep around all the time?" The unknown woman must have come after Kelsey ended up falling asleep, although she didn't recall hearing anyone enter. Maybe they were just very sneaky. "And who was this woman?"

"It's no one you know," Kenny quickly said. "She's...not even married anyways, so..."

"So?" Kelsey scoffed as she looked away from Kenny. "Come on dad, you don't remember how evil some of those women can be? And sleeping around all the time...it's just wrong, you know?"

"Kelsey, it's not like that." Kenny ran his left fingers through Kelsey's blonde hair. "You don't have to worry, I promise you."

"Alright dad."

As Kelsey resumed eating, the thought of Cory once again went back into Kenny's mind. Originally, Kenny didn't like him for pushing his daughter, but as he learned more about the drama, he couldn't help but feel sorry, especially since it seemed so familiar to what Kelsey went through. "You remember our talk last night, right? About Cory."

Kelsey groaned. She did not want to talk about Cory again. "No, dad," Kelsey said in a low, unenthusiastic tone.

Kenny glared at Kelsey. "Come on, knock it off with the sarcasm. This is serious."

"Alright fine, I'll be a good girl to him, okay?" Of course, Kelsey was starting to realize that trying to befriend Cory would be much harder than if she tried three weeks ago. Talking trash behind his back, talking trash to his face, and her going into a rampage yesterday certainly didn't help at all. She burnt too many bridges at this point, and Cory was looking to be another out of many.

Kenny shook his head. "Look, I get it. He's 'lame', as they say. But you were in his shoes once, you know? You're a beautiful girl, I just hope you use your influence on others for good."

Kelsey didn't like hearing this over and over again from various other people. But perhaps they did have a point, much to her chagrin. Therefore, she couldn't find an actual rebuttal, instead choosing to remain silent over the matter. After she finished eating, she grabbed her pink backpack. "Alright, guess I'll be going now."

Kenny and Kelsey drew into a hug. "Have a great day, honey."

As Kelsey finally broke free from Kenny, she just let out a deflated sigh. In the back of her mind, she had a feeling that today wouldn't be a great day.

She didn't take the bus to school today, not since she and Nikki had the fallout last Friday. So instead, she walked, which took her a good thirty minutes. In truth, Kelsey never liked school, and in her mind, she felt she was too smart for it, no matter how foolish the thinking. She never understood why children entering the building were always cheerful.

Her locker was only down the same hall from Cory's. After putting her own backpack in her locker, she came up to Cory, who had his back turned to Kelsey as he was busy sorting out his own locker. Kelsey wasn't sure of what to say. On one hand, she felt particularly bad how poorly she treated Cory yesterday, and the revelation of the photo still burned in her mind. She used to think of him as a creep and pervert, but now, there something about Cory...something familiar, yet doesn't feel right either.

Kelsey was too busy thinking, so she just stood there awkwardly behind Cory, and when Cory finally shut his locker and turned around, Cory jumped in surprise, his first instinct being that since the person was behind Cory, and those people were usually hostile, he thought Kelsey would be hostile. But then when he realized it was Kelsey, he immediately switched from a surprised into a brooding, grumbling state. "Oh...it's you."

"Hey, uh..." Kelsey scratched the back of her head. She couldn't face Cory, she couldn't muster the courage to look him in the eye. Kelsey didn't like many boys, the only boy she could stand was Sam, most boys were too immature, aggressive, lacked impulse control, or any combination of such, but there was something that made Cory much different from the rest, and because she couldn't put her tongue on it, that especially unnerved her. "I'm...mmm...sorry for last...yesterday, you know?"

"You - you know what, I am just tired of your shit!" Cory attempted to use his left hand to slam his locker door shut with as much force as possible, but his locker door was already shut, so as a result, he only ended up banging on his own locker, causing the palm of his left hand to ache a little. "Ow!" But it made no difference in further showcasing his anger at the situation. "I get you don't like me, but this..." Cory couldn't take it anymore, after everything Kelsey had done, Cory could feel nothing but hatred and resentment for Kelsey. Therefore, he began to think up of every and any offensive word that could come to mind. "You're retarded, you suck, you're a stupid whore, I mean, I guess I thought you'd have a little empathy or whatever, but just - I'm no more white trash than you'll ever be, just - just fuck off you stupid cunt!"

Cory stormed off, not letting Kelsey have the last word. Kelsey could only stare in shock as she watched Cory walk away. "Well what have I ever done to you?" Kelsey shook her head. "Why is he such a stupid asshole?"

* * *

Mr. Garrison paced back and forth through the front of the room. "...and that was how the children of South Park took down Terrorblade and redeemed him into an angel just like his brother Magina. I just thought this would be a cool story to tell to show you the history of your previous generation."

"So our parents were heroes because we hid a Stick of Truth from a demon feared by demons?" Natalie Black asked. "That actually sounds...really cool!"

"That actually sounds really anime." Emile Antoinette rolled his eyes. "Sounds just like straight out of Naruto or some shit."

"You would know you weeb." Walker Irvington stuck his tongue out at Emile.

"Madara Uchiha," Harvey Stratford nodded.

"Is there a character that could even possibly even touch Madara Uchiha?" Nate Howard smirked.

"Alright, let's settle down with the anime crap boys," Mr. Garrison interjected.

"What happened to the Stick afterwards?" Michelle Taylor asked.

"Well, the supervillain Professor Chaos, with the help of a Dovahkiin and the Kids Next Door managed to get the Stick of Truth again." Before Mr. Garrison could go on, the bell suddenly rang. "And I will pick up with this story right after recess."

Only Kelsey stayed behind in the classroom while the rest of the children ran off to play outside. As Mr. Garrison sat down at his desk and began typing away at his computer, Kelsey slowly walked up to him. "Mr. Garrison?"

"Yes, Kelsey?" Mr. Garrison did not take his eyes off the computer screen.

"I was just..." Kelsey furrowed her eyebrows. She didn't want to say what she was about to say, but she really wanted answers. "Why did you pair me up with Cory for the project?"

Mr. Garrison, grumbling, slowly lifted his left hand off the keyboard, his fingers trembling. He grabbed his glasses and took them off, setting them down to the left of the keyboard, and then he brought his hands together into a gentle fold. "I knew you were going to ask me this sooner or later." His voice was low and soft, and Kelsey knew from experience that she ought to choose her next words very wisely. "Do you _want_ to know why I paired you two up? Because I did this on purpose."

"S-sure," Kelsey gulped as her eyes wandered down to her shoes.

Mr. Garrison glared at Kelsey, who could not stare back at him. "You see, quite frankly, I'm getting sick of your shit, Kelsey. Whatever's going on between you and Cory - knock it off. I've seen lots of drama between students in my years, and yours is no worse - that doesn't mean it doesn't annoy the living shit out of me, because it does."

"But everything annoys the-" Kelsey clamped her mouth shut before she could say the wrong words to Mr. Garrison. "...I mean, if you know we don't like each other, why would you pair us up anyways?"

Mr. Garrison pushed away the keyboard as he turned his chair so that his front would face Kelsey. "I am a strong believer of the theory that if two people work towards a common goal, they're more likely to befriend each other."

"Well what if it doesn't work?" Kelsey asked.

"Then you can take the F, but I'll make one thing clear - you are not switching partners. End of discussion." Kelsey deflated. While she could believe that this is what Mr. Garrison would realistically say, she was still disappointed in how things didn't turn out the way she wanted them to. "The way I see it, you could learn not to be so much of a bitch."

Kelsey bit her tongue to avoid lashing out at Mr. Garrison. It wasn't the first time Mr. Garrison insulted a student like that, and it probably won't be his last. After a few moments of awkward silence, Kelsey finally sighed in defeat. "Fine. I guess I'll go now."

* * *

For two hours after morning recess, the class learned more about Professor Chaos and the Kids Next Door, the discussed pop culture, with Mr. Garrison talking trash about the latest celebrities like usual. Of course though, after that, the classroom started getting a bit interesting.

It started with Mr. Garrison and Cory leaving the room for a few minutes, then coming back inside. "Alright, class. I have another project for you all, and for this one, this entire class will have to work together."

"Aw shit!" Cory was the only student who made no reaction to the news whatsoever.

"Now here's the thing." Mr. Garrison kept his face as straight as possible, despite the anger already arising in the students. "The faculty wants this classroom to do a bullying skit in front of the whole school on stage on Friday."

"But - but that's like the last day of school!" Carter Jenkins yelled in disbelief.

"Yes, indeed, and in fact, I even have a script of the song that I want you all to practice, it was written by Stan Marsh many years ago, and I still kept it to this day." Mr. Garrison walked over to his desk and got out a stack of papers. "I think it's pretty great."

"Wait...that's Cory's dad," Helen Tweak said.

The class didn't look at Cory, but most of the children knew who exactly to put the blame on, as if they all were some kind of telepathic hivemind. As the students read over the script all they could do is cringe. What was going on with Stan's generation when they collaborated on the script? Were they really immature enough to think that mindless swearing and use of obscene body parts was funny? Similar questions like these flowed through most of the children's minds.

Kelsey was among the few who didn't have the above thoughts. Instead, she knew that the moment Mr. Garrison mentioned Cory's father Stan, and the moment she saw the reaction on the class was the moment she realized that something would go down.

When the lunch bell rang, Kelsey quickly ran after Cory. Cory, however, was attentive enough to know he was being followed by Kelsey. "Cory, wait!" Kelsey would shout as she ran after Cory, but Cory instead speedwalked towards the boy's bathroom.

When he reached the door, he swiftly turned around to face the beautiful blonde girl. "Why are you following me?!"

"I just need you to listen to me," Kelsey replied.

But Cory wouldn't let Kelsey continue. "Sorry, I thought I was too much a creep to talk to you, don't you have your own friends to hang out with so you can talk shit about be behind my back?" Cory looked back at the door and pointed at the sign on the door. "And in case you haven't noticed, boys' bathroom. Get lost."

"Cory wait-" But Cory slipped into the boy's restroom, not letting Kelsey have another word. And so, Kelsey only banged her right fist at the wall. "Oh damnit, why is he so stupid?!" She turned her back to the door. "Well whatever! If something does happen to him, it's not gonna be on me!" Of course, she couldn't fully bring herself to think that she would take no responsibility. As much as she tried not to care about Cory, as much as she tried to remove Cory completely from her mind, she couldn't do it, especially not when she promised her dad Kenny to be kind to him, and like the other promises she made to him, she intended to keep it (granted, she didn't have much say).

When Kelsey reached the front of the line, she was greeted by Chef once again. "Hello there, children."

"Hey." Kelsey didn't make any eye contact with Chef. "You were ressurected during the Terrorblade stuff, huh?"

"I was, actually, Mr. Garrison told you that story I'm assuming?" Kelsey nodded at Chef's question. "Well, honestly I gotta say, Terrorblade was one of the more tamer disasters that happened to this town."

"Well there were Nazi Zombies too." Kelsey then let out a sigh.

Chef read the expression on Kelsey's tired face and knew something wasn't right with her. "Is everything okay, Kelsey?"

"Nothing's bad. It's all good." Chef plopped down a plate of a hard-shelled corn taco onto Kelsey's tray. The taco had ground beef, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, and Mexican shredded cheese in it. Afterwards, Kelsey took a can of Pepsi and made her way to her friends.

Kelsey couldn't eat. The only thing she could think about were the parallels between Cory's situation and what Kelsey had been through before, and the evidence was quite damning.

"You guys should see the Twilight remake," Kelly Leone said. "It's actually pretty good."

"Is it gonna be the stupid thing where the guy gets the girl like usual?" Susan Stoley asked. "Because I hate how women are portrayed as prizes in those movies."

"Do you want me to spoil it for you girls?" Kelly asked.

"No, don't, I haven't seen it, either," Cindy Tucker added. "What about you Kelsey? Kelsey?"

It took a few seconds for Kelsey to realize that the entire table was staring at her. "Um...hi?"

"Kelsey, what's going on with you today?" Linda Anderson asked. "You're acting really weird."

"N-n-nothing, I'm - I'm fine, it's just..." Kelsey inhaled a ton of air then let out a harsh exhale. "I'm just not hungry. That's it."

However, Ricky Oswald, another boy from the girls' class came to the table. "Hey, just so you know, we're gonna do the thing."

"Finally, time to make that asshole Cory pay." Cindy Tucker was the first to stand up.

Kelsey blinked twice. "P-pay for what?" As far as Kelsey recalled, Cory hadn't done anything against the girls today, or even recently. The more Kelsey thought about it, the more she began to realize that Cory had been trying to keep to himself the whole time, it just so happened that trouble was always around the corner coming for him. It was that old familiar feeling.

"His stupid dad wrote that damn script that we have to do on Friday," Susan Stoley grumbled. "It's stupid, crude, apparently having a vagina is funny for some reason. And I bet Cory's laughing at us right now, didn't you see him talk with Mr. Garrison outside?"

Kelsey turned her attention towards Cory, who sat alone across the cafeteria, looking down at his food without touching it. His cheek was resting on his left hand, his left elbow resting on the table. The expression on his face told Kelsey he was anything but happy. _Yeah, CLEARLY, Cory's laughing at us...haha_.

"Yeah, you're right," Linda Anderson agreed. "It's almost as if him and Mr. Garrison planned this whole thing.

"B-but why would they?" All eyes were now on Kelsey. Kelsey had to think of something fast to defend Cory but not make it obvious she was defending Cory. "I-I mean, Mr. Garrison hates _everyone_ , I think, and he probably hates Cory too, so...I mean yeah? No?"

"Don't care, let's get his ass." Helen Tweak stood up as well.

Only Kelsey remained at the table. Looking around the cafeteria, she saw most of the kids in her class stand up, making their way over to Cory. She noted that the only classmates who didn't stand up to go after Cory were Sam, Nikki, John, Leslie, and Claire. _Oh shit._ Once the girls got going to try to ruin someone's day, there was no stopping them. Realistically, there was nothing Kelsey could do. She was too tired and slow, and there were too many people going after Cory.

Across the cafeteria, Cory sat alone at another table. He wasn't feeling particularly well. He didn't have breakfast as he woke up late. Kelsey wouldn't stop bugging him, and he was appalled at the fact Kelsey thought a simple apology would fix everything. As he was about to take a bite out of his taco, he ceased his action as he noted most of his classmates gathering around him. The moment the crowd gathered was the moment the entire cafeteria fell silent, watching what would go down.

"So your dad made the script for our class skit, huh?" Leah Fetherston said.

Cory was unsure of what to say, and was threatened by the gathering of his classmates. Whenever someone confronted Cory, it never ended well for him. So instead, he chose to remain silent. Not like that mattered anyways, because the next second one of the students (Ashley Crater) took Cory's plate of a taco. "Hey, give that back!" But Cory was too slow as Ashley slammed the taco onto the ground, splattering its contents over a fourteen-inch radius.

"That's what you get for making us do the skit you jackass!" James Milton screamed.

Clarence Lewis took Cory's can of Dr. Pepper, popped the tab open, and spilled the soda all over the taco residue on the ground. He then threw the can behind himself, which landed underneath where Kelsey sat. She watched the entire interaction in terror, the memories coming back to her, as if she should have been in Cory's place instead of him. But she couldn't speak out against the injustice, not just because she was too afraid of her peers, but also because she was afraid of Cory.

"Please! I - I didn't have breakfast today! I didn't do anything!" Cory started crying.

Yet that didn't deter the other students. "Sucks to be you then!" Linda Anderson screeched.

When the children finally parted ways, the bell rang, and soon did the rest of the children also clear out of the cafeteria. The bystanders did not laugh at Cory at all, only whispered softly amongst themselves, and Kelsey could hear the same fear out of said bystanders she herself had experienced. Kelsey's own friends just left her at the table, perhaps they were too angry at what Cory had "caused" upon the class to even consider Kelsey, but that didn't matter now. For the past ten minutes, Kelsey gazed upon Sam, upon Nikki, John, Claire, and Leslie. All they had done is watched the brutality, doing nothing. It was rather funny how they had all claimed that they would no longer contribute to the mess against Cory, yet Kelsey was starting to learn that being a bystander was just as bad.

On the other hand, Kelsey had never liked Cory to begin with, but seeing Cory broken and crying alone at the table he sat at only solidified her 's memories even further, the guilt was starting to choke her in, and so she finally decided to extend the first olive branch, and a loving one at that. Taking one last look at her untouched taco, she carried the tray over to Cory's table, dragging her feet as if ensnared by quicksand. "Uh...hey." Cory didn't look up at Kelsey, didn't respond. He was too distraught over having his lunch ruined and being blamed for the terrible skit the class would have to perform. "Um..." Kelsey let out a sigh. _I'm gonna regret this I bet._ She broke the taco in half and with her right hand offered half of it to Cory. "...you...um...you can - can have this...I guess-"

Cory immediately took the taco and and started munching down on it, still sobbing while doing so. He was too busy eating to try to say anything, doing his best to mitigate his own hunger pains.

Kelsey pulled back in instinct, startled by Cory's sudden grab. _A "thanks" would be nice._ "Sheesh, it's almost like you didn't have breakfast or something." Kelsey finally started to eat from her own half.

"I-I didn't," Cory replied.

"Why not?" Kelsey asked.

"I - I woke up late...almost m-missed the bus."

Kelsey shook her head. _Only Cory would be this irresponsible, I swear to God._ Then Kelsey remembered something: why had the class blamed Cory for performing the skit? "Hey...uh...I'm just wondering...when Mr. Garrison talked with you outside before announcing the skit to the rest of the class, what did he say?"

"He - he told me about it...and said I didn't - didn't have to join in if I didn't want to. So I said no."

That especially hit Kelsey in the heart. Cory only wanted to avoid doing the skit, didn't even want the skit in the first place, yet the rest of the class unjustly blamed him and made him pay for something he didn't do. "Listen, um, I don't think we're supposed to be here any longer so..."

"Please just take me to Mr. Vanson," Cory pleaded.

Kelsey almost wanted to laugh. "You s-sure? I mean no one else knows about him, and how could you even trust him? I mean, he's probably as shitty as our previous counselors-"

"JUST TAKE ME TO HIM!"

Kelsey was left startled from Cory's sudden increase in volume and anger. Then after a few seconds, he was sobbing once more. "Alright, alright! Jeez, just keep your voice down. I'll take you to him...if that's what you want."

Cory would not stop crying during the walk. Kelsey's heart was pounding because she was nervous about how other students would react if they saw her cater to Cory. Therefore, both walked fairly quickly, not stopping until they finally reached the door to Mr. Vanson's office. Kelsey knocked thrice.

"Come in," Mr. Vanson's voice came from the other side of the door.

Needless to say, Vanson almost lost his breath at the sight of Cory crying. But what was more surprising to him was Kelsey of all students escorting Cory into the office, especially after everything he and Cory had discussed about her yesterday. "W-what's going on here? Cory, are you alright?"

Cory was too distraught and too busy crying to attempt to answer the question, so Kelsey went ahead for him. "It's a long story-"

"Shut the door, please," Mr. Vanson interrupted.

Kelsey stuck her head out the doorway, making sure no one was directly outside the office. She then closed the door, and she and Cory pulled up two extra wooden chairs and sat down, Kelsey to Cory's right. "Mr. Vanson, they...uh, took Cory's lunch and ruined it. Like, literally."

"Who did this?" Although Mr. Vanson did have a hunch on who could have possibly ruined Cory's lunch.

"It - it was most of my class." Truth be told, Kelsey was acutally quite nervous interacting with the counselor. What unnerved her is how harshly Mr. Vanson glared at Kelsey, as if every suspicious of her words. "They took Cory's lunch and threw it on the floor and stuff."

Mr. Vanson didn't take his eyes off of Kelsey. "Did you have any part in this? Be honest."

Kelsey couldn't believe that the counselor didn't believe her. "What? No, I didn't!" Kelsey nudged Cory's right side with her left elbow. "Cory, help me out here..."

"She - she gave me h-half her lunch." Cory sniffled a few more times. "Kelsey did, yes."

Mr. Vanson blinked his eyes in astonishment. It had to be a fairy tale that Kelsey, the girl who held contempt for Cory, the girl who had been so mean to Cory for years, would go out of her way to help Cory out like that. But if Cory was confirming this, then it had to be true, couldn't it? "Kelsey, I...I want to thank you for helping Cory like that. What made you help him though?" Mr. Vanson almost went on about what Cory had said about Kelsey yesterday, but held back, not wanting to reveal anything said.

"I just...I don't know, but I just thought it wasn't reasonable because they thought Cory and Mr. Garrison coordinated together to have the the entire class do some bullying skit, but it wasn't Cory's idea at all," Kelsey replied.

"Oh no." Mr. Vanson never intended for the students to (mistakenly) target Cory, he thought the skit would be a great idea to teach them about bullying. But the more he thought about it, the more it would only piss the students off, but he can't go back on it now. "Cory, it will be alright."

"Well the way it see it, none of this would have happened if that retarded Mr. Garrison didn't make us do the skit! Who's idea is it to make our class do that dumb skit anyways?!"

Mr. Vanson didn't answer Kelsey's question - mostly because he was in on it. Twenty years ago, the skit was actually a Lip-Dub performed by the school as a challenge to spread awareness of bullying. Mr. Vanson thought the lines itself to the song was great, but all of the school's efforts backfired when Butters Stotch punched Dr. Oz in the groin, causing the school to lose massive amounts of money from lawsuits. "It was a collective effort," Mr. Vanson lied.

Kelsey rolled her eyes, believing it. "Figures." For a silent moment, curiosity about Cory was dawning upon Kelsey. "I mean...I've never seen Cory quite like this before." _Or really even talked to Cory at all._

"Well it's not hard to imagine what years of bullying might do to a child's development," Mr. Vanson retorted. "And the way you told everyone at school...literally _everything_ about him...didn't help at all."

"I-I know." As seconds past, Kelsey's guilt over Cory only grew, as if her icy heart had began to thaw upon this moment.

"You and your actions have a lot more influence than you might think, I just hope you make the right choices with it," Mr. Vanson added. "Anyways, Cory will not be returning to class today, probably for his own good. Anything else you want to add, Kelsey?" When Kelsey shook her head, Mr. Vanson continued. "Alright, you are dismissed."

Kelsey nodded and stood up. She then turned to Cory. "I guess I'll see you at your house today, to finish our project you know? And...um..." Kelsey's eyes dropped to the floor in nervousness. "...sorry. For...everything."

As Kelsey opened the door to leave, Mr. Vanson called out one last time. "And Kelsey?"

Kelsey turned around to face Mr. Vanson. "Hm?"

"Go easy on Cory, would you? And thank you, for bringing him in for me."

The last thing Kelsey saw before she exited the room was Cory finally beginning to calm down. She began to remember that she was part of the reason why Cory had been so irrational and scatterbrained all the time. Maybe that's what having a crush does to young boy's minds - or maybe it was how terribly Kelsey had treated Cory recently, or most likely a mixture of both. Furthermore, she couldn't fathom having to go to school everyday with huge anxiety just from being near some she would have a crush on alone. Nevertheless, Kelsey would try to fix that.

* * *

When school ended, Sam and Nikki walked home together. Like yesterday, when they and their siblings got off the bus, they briefly made eye contact with Kelsey and Cory, but exchanged no words with them. Then they parted ways.

Kailey and Martin followed Sam and Nikki behind from a distance, and they were much more quiet than usual, but that didn't bother the older siblings. "Man, what do you think of that lecture we got, about our class taking Cory's lunch like that?" Nikki asked.

Sam shook his head. "Man, I swear, our class just loves to jump the gun like that. I mean, 'shoot first, ask questions later' is how I'd describe this. About Cory though...I don't know, I mean on one hand, he's kinda done a lot of shit, but he doesn't deserve all the flak he's getting."

"I guess life was more simpler back in our previous generation," Nikki said.

"Uh, that's not true, weren't you listening to Mr. Garrison earlier today?" Sam asked.

"No, I fell asleep," Nikki replied. "Because he's always boring, and I figured he'd talk shit about women like usual."

"Well he did mention our parents saved the world several times as kids," Sam replied. "You weren't listening in about Terrorblade, or when our parents were superheroes?"

"Okay, I heard _that_ part..." Nikki remembered.

"Or how about the many times this town was destroyed, all the evil supervillains, shit like the zombie apocalypse..." Sam could feel Nikki grasp his right hand. "Looking back, I actually don't envy my parents at all, I'm actually glad for what we have."

"But what about all the people at school?" Nikki asked. "They're all assholes, remember?"

"Yeah, but our parents were even worse, look at your dad for instance," Sam said.

"Because your dad kept bulling mine for being fat," Nikki replied.

"That is true," Sam said.

Kailey giggled as she watch Sam continue to hold Nikki's hand. "See, I told you they'd start dating again."

Kailey eventually split off to head to the Broflovski residence alone. Meanwhile, Martin, Nikki, and Sam went over to the Cartman residence. Neither Eric nor Red were home. For the next hour, Sam and Nikki would rehearse their science presentation, then rehearsed their lines of the bullying song in Nikki's bedroom. As they sat on Nikki's bed while scanning the bullying song over and over, Nikki couldn't help but laugh at the lyrics. "So what do you think about this?"

Sam looked up at Nikki and shrugged. "I don't know, it's kinda weird. Like I almost want to cringe, but I don't know."

"This seems like Cory's dad was just trying too hard to be as offensive as possible," Nikki replied. "I mean, there's so many metaphors for suicide insults and shit like that - isn't that counter-intuitive to stopping bullying?"

Sam smirked. "So edgy, so deep."

"Shut up," Nikki chuckled.

"I was referring to the script," Sam retorted.

"I know." After a few moments of silence, Nikki then held Sam's left hand as she sat to his left. "You ready for the speech tomorrow."

"I...I guess...I am a bit nervous, I mean neither of us really had much time to prepare, in fact, no one did, and it's not really fair at all." Sam sighed as his heartbeat quickened from what would come of tomorrow.

"I know." Nikki, of course, did one thing she knew would calm Sam down - she leaned in to kiss him in the lips. Sam tried to pull away due to the suddenness, but after fully realizing what was going on, he closed his eyes as he felt his heart melt. He never wanted to let Nikki go.

Unfortunately, the door opened, and it was bad for the young couple. "Hey Nikki, I got-" It was Eric Cartman in the doorway, and the sight that betook his very eyes startled him at first. But when he swiftly comprehended fully what was going on, he face went redder than Kyle's hair ever was. Red enough to make Sam want to poop his pants right now.

Nikki quickly pulled away from Sam. "D-dad, I can explain-"

Needless to say, the fact that Nikki would "go behind Eric's back" gave him conniptions. "Sam, get out."

"Mr. Cartman, I didn't know-" Sam tried to say.

"I said get out!" Eric rushed forward to Sam and stopped directly in front of him. "You do not touch my own daughter."

"Dad, you can't do this!" Nikki yelled.

"You're not nearly old enough to start dating, Nikki!" Eric then turned to Sam. "And you, get your stuff and go, and if you ever go near my daughter again..."

Sam quickly gathered his notes and binder into his backpack, and then as he walked out, he tried to take one last look at Nikki, but Eric blocked his view, beckoning him along. Nikki could only slam her body onto her bead as she broke out into a cry. "T-this is so unfair!"

* * *

Years ago, Stan and Wendy built a treehouse in their backyard, in case Cory ever wanted to invite anyone over. In truth, this is only the first time ever that anyone other than Cory's family set foot inside the treehouse. He and Kelsey originally worked on the project inside his bedroom, but they decided the weather is nice enough to go outside, and Kelsey wanted to see what Cory's treehouse is like and how it'd differ from some other boys'.

Cory could not get his part right, he kept messing up words, skipping beats, missing syllables, or just straight up forgot how to correctly explain some graphs of their presentation. After an hour, Kelsey just sighed, seeing as how neither of them have made much progress at all. "Let's just take a break," Kelsey suggested. "I mean, it's obvious you kinda need to clear your head." Cory just sat in the corner, curled up, his arms around his legs, and his thighs against his chest. "Like, you really have to focus, Cory."

"I-I know," Cory softly replied.

"Then why aren't you doing it?" Kelsey's tone was harsh, and that didn't make Cory feel any more comfortable.

"I'm just t-tired." Cory refused to make eye contact with Kelsey, as he remained huddled in the corner.

Things were getting nowhere, but before Kelsey finally lost her patience again, she remembered something that Kenny had told her last night. _"I want you to treat Cory the same way I treated you."_ In other worse, Kenny wanted Kelsey to treat Cory like a friend, although they had never really been close before. Of course, she figured that the best way to befriend someone is to have them open up to each other. _I, mean, this shouldn't be too hard, he probably thinks I'm still the prettiest girl in school, he'll have to open up. Easy, right?_ "So...wanna play Truth or Dare, but without the Dare part?"

"No dare?" Cory wasn't exactly fond of playing Truth or Dare, but he wasn't sure what to make out of with what Kelsey was suggesting.

"We're basically just asking each other questions that we have to answer," Kelsey summarized.

Cory finally made eye contact with Kelsey. "Why?"

"I don't know." Kelsey only shrugged her shoulders. "I'm kinda bored, and I kinda needed a break from all this work anyways."

Cory paused for a moment. He wasn't so sure about this; every time he tried to open himself up to peers, he had only been shot down, his heart betrayed, his emotions demolished. Every time he tried to plead to others how unfair they were to him, he had only been reviled, accused of trying to gain sympathy points. "I...I...guess?"

"You can ask the first question, if it makes you feel better," Kelsey said.

Cory nodded. "Alright. Um...that model plane that I saw in your bedroom yesterday...was that just for fun, what you built? A-and I'm really sorry for breaking that plane yesterday by the way."

Kelsey smiled. "It's alright, I shouldn't have lashed out at you. And that, well...I do like building stuff. I even fixed my dad's watch. And actually...I kinda want to be an engineer someday."

"That's - that's cool," Cory nodded.

"What about you?" Kelsey asked. "What do you think your future will be like?"

"I-I'm n-not sure...everyone always tells me I'm useless, and I keep thinking they're right." Kelsey had witnessed this first hand, and Kelsey had also been at the receiving end of similar sentiments.

"Cory, you're not that useless, I mean, I saw you when you and Charlie Brown broke into the Nurse's office sometime last week or something to fix up his leg."

"Yeah, and then Charlie blamed me for getting him into detention and told me I would amount to nothing." Cory grumbled beneath his breath. "Guess that's where helping people gets me."

"Hey, don't worry about him, he's just an asshole," Kelsey replied. "I think you'd make a great nurse."

"You really think so?" Cory asked.

"Yes, and you just asked a question, so now it's my turn, haha." When Cory rolled his eyes, Kelsey continued. "I'm just kidding. You can ask this one."

"Alright." It took a few seconds for Cory to think of this next question. "What do you think of Nikki and Sam now?"

"Now?" Kelsey sighed. "This is a really hard question for me to answer...I don't know, I mean on one hand, I never really liked how they seem to be drama hungry or something like that, but on the other hand...I mean, I think I made a few mistakes." Cory just glared at Kelsey. "Okay, that was an understatement. A lot of mistakes. I guess we'll never be friends anymore. Sad." Cory nodded silently. "Anyways...what made you have a crush on me?"

Cory immediately blushed. The emotions he felt for Kelsey was confusing and conflicting, and it only twisted his stomach the more he thought about it. "You're...you're...uh...r-really hot?"

Unfortunately, Kelsey's smile only faded. "That's it? Like you don't like me because I'm smart or anything? Just because I'm hot?"

Cory knew that Kelsey anger was rising, and so he panicked as he clutched his legs even tighter. "W-well I-I-I d-didn't know you were that s-smart!"

"That's absolutely shallow of you, Cory! I can't believe you only care about my looks...actually, I can believe you only care about my looks - just like every other stupid boy!" Kelsey folded her arms.

"Oh so now this is a stupid gender discussion now?! I thought we had something nice going..." Cory looked down at his knees. "Well I guess you just had me fooled."

"Like most of the boys in this school yeah," Kelsey retorted.

Cory looked up at Kelsey this time, and this time, he wasn't having it. "Y-you know what I hate about the girls at this school?! They're always angry and stuck-up and edgy and mean! Just! Like! You!"

"Me? Oh screw you, how about those times when you pranked me, or how you were always complaining all the time?! All the boys ever do is cause shit, and when they get older, the only thing they'll have on their minds is... _literally_ screwing!"

Cory just wanted the torture to end at this point, so he said what he could to shut Kelsey up. "Oh the irony, well at least I didn't work at Raisins when I was younger, hypocrite!"

Kelsey gasped. She didn't think that Cory of all people would have recognized her during the times she worked at Raisins. Nevermind that, she didn't think this argument would get that personal. But now she wasn't going to let Cory get away with the satisfaction of winning the insult war. "Well - well with your attitude about girls, I wouldn't be surprised if you'd turn out to be a rapist, just like your dad!"

This, of course, sent Cory into a flying rage. "H-how dare you, take that back!"

"No!"

"RRRAHH!" Cory got up to his feet and immediately lept at Kelsey. Kelsey backed into the opposite corner, holding her left forearm up and sideways to try to block whatever physical blow Cory might attempt at Kelsey. She could see the fire in his eyes, nothing but full of hatred at this point.

Of course though, Cory's feet were positioned in which he leaned over, not balancing his body correctly. Therefore, Kelsey managed to muster the strength to push Cory away back to his own corner, staggering him and causing him to fall on his butt. "Get off me, asshole!"

"Kelsey McCormick, you stupid bitch! Cunt! Whore! Skank! Jerk! You - you - augh, I hate you!" Cory threw whatever he could find at Kelsey - pencils, pens, paper, and small rocks. After he could find no more projectiles to throw, he had realized what happened and what he'd done. He knew he went insane again, and he knew that he was trapped with someone he hated, and he wasn't sure what Kelsey would do now. The girl he used to like had more-or-less shot a grenade launcher into his heart, and now he's trapped with said girl, nowhere to run, nowhere to escape. At this point, he muttered for a bit. "I-I-I..." Tears began dripping down his eyes, mucus surely coming out of his nose. He buried his head into his knees and started crying.

Kelsey was still backed up in a defensive position, but already, she was beginning to feel guilty. While Cory did bring it into personal territory, she had to be kicking herself for calling Cory a word that should not ever be used as a casual insult. Nonetheless, she promised her dad she'd make amends with Cory, and so far, she had effectively done the exact opposite. She had to fix this _now._ "Cory..." Cory didn't stop though. "Cory, please stop crying, I'm sorry okay?"

It took ten entire minutes before Cory's tears finally subsided. For the next five minutes, the only sound in the treehouse was Cory's periodic sniffles. And then Cory finally spoke up. "D-do y-y-you h-h-hate me?"

"What do you mean?" Kelsey asked as she slid down until she sat on the floor.

Cory finally looked up at Kelsey, and Kelsey could see that his cheeks were still red and tear-stained. "D-do y-y-you h-h-hate m-me?"

"W-what? N-no, o-of course I don't hate you!" How else could Kelsey answer that question?

"T-then w-why a-are you so m-mean to me?!" Cory softly cried into his knees once more.

It broke Kelsey's heart to see Cory like this. This Cory was nothing but a broken shell of what he could have been, and Kelsey had certainly not helped Cory at all. "I hated you not just because you pushed me down, but because - you just seemed like a dick, like when we would try to be friends with you, or try to get you to meet others you always just stood away, acted like you were always superior to everyone else" Kelsey let out a sigh. "I-I guess the bottom line is that there's lots of miscommunication. I didn't know that you were just shy, a-and at this point, I g-guess you have every reason to be shy."

Cory was still dripping tears, but he looked up at Kelsey again. "E-everyone's m-m-mean to me all the time! T-that's why I hate giving speeches, b-because I a-always mess up, and t-they laugh at me m-messing up! A-and I thought...you know..." Cory wiped away his tears with his left arm. "S-since you were l-like me too...b-bullied...I t-thought y-you know...understand w-where I'm coming from?! I-I mean, what the fuck's the p-point of being nice when everyone is...is a jackass?!"

"I-I know what you mean...I've been there before...do you want to know my story?" Cory silently nodded. "Alright...my parents were just like yours...my dad and my mom had sex at a party, they had me...except unlike yours, my parents never reunited. Like, ever." Kelsey cleared her throat as Cory listened intently. "Ahem. My dad grew up poor, his parents regularly abused him and his siblings, or my aunt and uncle too. My dad would cope with this abuse by having sex with lots of women."

"H-he never hurt you, did he?" Cory asked.

"No, and for that, I'm thankful." Kelsey nodded. "But just listen. Anyways, I remember when I was three, and I woke up in the middle of the night to pee. And I did, and then I got out of the restroom, and I saw a hooker which looked like was holding my dad's wallet, so I screamed, and she grabbed me by the throat and tried to drag me outside, but luckily my dad punched her lights out. And at that moment, I just thought that boys were just stupid because they'd forgo their own safety, their own sanity just for...you know."

"I-I get it, b-but it still doesn't explain w-why you're mean."

"Anyways, this was widely known, and other stuff about me." Kelsey started sniffling. "I remember joining Raisins in third grade because my dad never had enough to give me allowance, and I was tired of being ugly and considered trashy. But then the school called me...well basically the names you called me, and t-then some."

"So that's why you're mean?" Cory asked.

"I was mean to everyone, but...I guess that's my best excuse," Kelsey stated. "What about you? Anything similar to what happened to my parents?"

"Well..." Cory wasn't completely sure if he could trust Kelsey, but the fact that she shared such a personal story probably meant that it was safe for him. Plus, if she tried to get the word out, he had some leverage on her. "I r-remember when I was two, my mom took my dad and I to visit her college sorority house for a weekend over the summer. S-she wanted to show her sorority who my dad was and who I was. My mom and dad must have told my sorority the truth...I didn't understand it all back then what those assholes were on about, but then now that you told me everything, it made sense now."

"Everything like...how I told you the truth of your parents?" Kelsey asked.

"Yeah, because that sorority and a fraternity they were close to...when they found out the true story, they beat up my dad because...you know." Kelsey nodded, completely understanding everything. "It - it wasn't right. It was l-like retribution, but with a shit cause. And my dad w-was in a coma for three straight days, I thought he died, I was so scared." Just remembering the memory caused a few tears to flow down Cory's cheeks, so he wiped them away with his right hand. "How could someone do this?"

"What happened afterwards?" Kelsey asked.

"My dad turned out f-f-fine in the end, but my mom left the sorority, never s-spoke to them again." Cory let out a deep sigh. He had never revealed anything to anyone before, and it made him feel especially vulnerable, a feeling he hated so much given the amount of times he had been taken advantage of. "Y-you w-won't tell anyone about this, would you?"

"No, unless you want me to," Kelsey replied. "A-and as long as you don't tell anyone about my story with my dad either."

"Alright," Cory nodded. "Just...why did you tell me your story? I-I mean, I told you mine because you told me yours, but-"

Kelsey obviously couldn't tell Cory that her real intention was to try to open herself up and make herself vulnerable so that Cory would do the same. "I thought you wanted to know why I don't like boys, and just seems like they all just grow up to be sex obsessed idiots - like look at our parents, and our parents' generation. I t-t-think the evidence is pretty clear, don't you think?"

"Is that really what you only see guys as when they get older?" Cory sighed as he continued to wipe away tears. "I mean, I already hate how that's how I feel I'll end up as when I get older, I hate how I'd make the - the same mistakes as my parents, b-b-but I-I don't need you to constantly remind me a-and talk shit to me about it!"

"You're right." Kelsey groaned as she rubbed her temples. "Oh, I'm such a hypocrite. Especially since my girl friends also want hot guys as well...well I suppose it's always better to be liked than to be hated, even if it's something as small as my looks."

"At least you had something. I never had anything at all." Cory softly sobbed into his knees again.

It was damning to see how hollow Cory had become. Even though Cory wasn't completely innocent, Kelsey felt guilty about the whole situation. He clearly had potential, but he was left shattered, his sanity broken into pieces. It was tiring to try to fix up a broken Cory, but Nikki had done the same for Kelsey when she was broken, and Kelsey only let Nikki down, stabbed her in the back in the end. All the dark attitudes reminded Kelsey of herself, and Cory was heading down that path, the path Kelsey needed to stop. She wasn't going to let Cory create another monstrosity of a bully gang Kelsey had created with her "friends". Therefore, she did the one thing she knew Cory would never resist: she crawled over to Cory, leaned over, and gave him a hug. "Shh, everything will be alright."

Cory initially tried to resist the hug, but the soothing touch of Kelsey eventually let Cory's guard down, leaving him completely vulnerable, and he ended up sobbing into Kelsey's left shoulder. "I-I just wanted t-to h-have friends! I-I don't want to be hated anymore!"

"I-It's okay," Kelsey whispered. "Everything will be okay, I promise." After five more minutes, Cory eventually calmed down, only leaving him in a blush from hugging Kelsey. He wiped his face with his right sleeve. Kelsey then drew back from Cory, but still held the sides of Cory's body. "You done?"

"Y-yeah," Cory nodded.

"Hey, uh, for the record..." Kelsey still held Cory's right side with her left hand, and used her own right hand to scratch the back of her head and slightly adjust the black headband she wore, while looking away from Cory and onto the floor. "I'm really sorry for telling you the truth of your parents, and in front of the whole entire school...and hurting you for pretty much...forever."

"I-it's okay," Cory sniffled. "I-I think I wanted to know about this anyways." He let out a shy, watery smile, one Kelsey had never seen before.

It was a beautiful smile, sadly, it was also the only time Kelsey had ever seen Cory this happy before. On the other hand, this told Kelsey that Cory was finally perfectly comfortable with being around Kelsey. Granted, he was still nervous, likely anxious because he wanted to impress Kelsey, but probably because he still had feelings for her, and she knew that he'll calm down and learn to control those feelings eventually. Kelsey finally let go of Cory. "We - we should probably get back to work..." Kelsey then looked at all of the pencils, pens, and papers Cory threw, scattered across the floor.

"Oh that...sorry about that, and s-s-sorry for trying to hit you," Cory apologized. "I-I...I didn't know what I was th-"

"It's okay, I think I deserved some of that to be honest." Kelsey then hugged Cory again, and this time, Cory beamed, his heart soaring with nervousness and happiness for the first time in a long time.

"Yay!" Cory squealed. "I-I mean, you're not the first girl I h-hugged, but y-you're my f-f-f-f-f-f-f" but Cory kept jumbling his syllables, too nervous to finish his sentence.

"Favorite?" Kelsey completed.

"Y-yeah, that!" Cory closed his eyes and hugged Kelsey tighter.

Kelsey didn't mind, she knew Cory needed it, and after everything Cory had been through, it was the least he deserved. Hugging a pretty girl would make most boys happy, but hugging the girl Cory had a crush on reversed the depression he had been through, and now gave him newfound confidence. Of course though, Cory had been hugging Kelsey for an entire minute, and while she was amused at how clingy he could be, they really needed to practice their speech. "Cory, we should start working on our speech now. Seriously, though, let go of me."

"S-s-sorry." Cory pulled back and blushed again, cheeks reddening.

"Alright, let's go over this stupid speech thing once more time," Kelsey said.

Kenny finally came by the Marsh residence at 6 PM. When the front door opened for him, Stan, Wendy, Cory, and Kelsey had appeared. "Hey." Kelsey walked out of the door and stood by Kenny's side. "How were things?"

"They were actually getting along just fine," Stan said.

"Yeah, I'm not sure how they did it, I mean I was worried at first, but seems things have really changed," Wendy added.

"That's - that's great! I'd love to stick around for longer but I have some work to do," Kenny said.

"Oh yeah, my dad gave you that assignment," Stan said.

"Yep, that assignment," Kenny nodded. "Anyways, Kelsey, say goodbye to Cory."

And to Kenny's completely surprise, Kelsey ran up and hugged Cory. "Just practice the speech and you'll do great," she smiled. Cory shyly nodded.

"Bye!"

After the door closed, Kenny just looked at his daughter. "You know, when I told you to be nice to him...I did not expect this, honestly. But I can't really complain." In truth, Kenny wasn't worried about Kelsey, he knew she was a smart girl, and he knew that Cory would be kind to her.

"He still really likes me," Kelsey smiled.

* * *

 **That was a really long chapter, dang. A lot of fluff in this chapter, but honestly, I think that after nineteen eighteen consecutive chapters of what could almost be grimdark material, we kinda need a somewhat happy chapter at this point.**

 **Also, let me just say that I already wrote the "Make Bullying Kill Itself" song, you'll just have to wait and see. Until next time.**


	21. Chapter 21: The Crossroads of Destiny

**Sorry this took so long, been busy with school, then went on vacation, so here it is. There is some blood and gore, though I assure you none of the "real" characters got hurt.**

* * *

 **Chapter 21**

Nikki slowly munched on her Cheerios during the Wednesday morning, unhappy and unsatisfied with herself. It wasn't about her project, in fact, she was confident she will ace her science presentation. But she could not look at her father Eric this morning, only putting her own cereal bowl in her sights.

Eric took notice of this and leaned forward on the table. "Is there something wrong, Nikki?"

Nikki did not look up at her father. "Yes." Her voice was low. "I think you know."

Eric folded his arms. "Damn right I do. You don't need to date any boy at your current age, and especially not that asshole Sam Broflovski!"

"He's not an asshole!" Nikki couldn't believe the false claims and accusations Eric was making. If anything, she had a hunch Eric didn't want Sam's dad Kyle to brag about his son "scoring" with Eric's daughter - ironically something Kyle wouldn't do. "And what about when you asked if Cory liked me?!"

"I wouldn't have let that Cory Marsh date you either, he's insane, just like his parents!" Eric retorted.

"Eric." Nikki's mother Red shook her head disapprovingly. "They aren't that bad."

"They can't even hear us anyways, we can say whatever behind their backs. Anyways..." Eric then turned back to Nikki. "My final answer is no! You're not going out with Sam, nor Cory, nor any other boy, and that's final!"

"Why are you doing this, dad?" Nikki asked.

"Because you're too young and you don't need a boyfriend right now." Nikki was certain that the reasoning Eric just gave was nothing but blatant lies. She couldn't understand Eric's true motivation behind it all, but she believed it was probably just as stupid as the false excuses he gave. So for now, she gave up on the argument.

After Nikki gathered her things and departed with her brother Martin, she walked swiftly to the bus stop while Martin struggled to keep up. Only Sam and his sister Kailey were at the bus stop because since Monday, Kelsey had not been present at the bus stop at all.

"Hey!" Sam waved with his right arm.

Nikki ran up to Sam and hugged him tightly. Feelings of happiness briefly soared through their hearts, but after breaking apart, Nikki's smile faded as she grumbled beneath her breath. "I cannot believe my dad would break us up like this, who does he think he is?!"

"What an asshole," Sam nodded. "I mean, does he really think I'm like that or something?"

Nikki was about to add on to what Sam was saying, but her right ear perked up, hearing Martin whisper something and Kailey giggle. Instinctively, she whipped around, walked up to her brother, and drew her right hand back, forming a fist. In the context of things, she found the children's laughing particularly offensive to her, although Sam probably wouldn't be pleased if Nikki went after Kailey, so she went after Martin instead. "Martin, I swear to God, if you keep laughing at me, I'm gonna kick your ass!" Martin and Kailey quelled their laughter quickly after as Nikki turned back to Sam and groaned. "Does he think you'll hurt me or something, because that is some bullshit reasoning if I've ever heard of one."

Sam let out a smirk. "You're not gonna let your dad stop you, are you?"

"Me? No way!" Nikki glanced back from the direction she came from, making well sure Eric wasn't in her sights, which was the case. "I don't care what he says, I'm still going to the dance with you."

Sam gulped. _Oh shit, the dance, I forgot!_ Sam immediately reached into his left pants pocket to feel the inside, and he was relieved to know that he had money in there. _Thank God._ "Oh yeah...I have the money, haha. I'm good."

"Nice, I was gonna kill you if you didn't have the money today," Nikki joked.

Then the bus came, the doors opening, revealing the driver Ms. Crabtree. "SHUT UP AND GET ON!"

As Sam and Nikki walked in, the first thing they noticed that neither Cory nor Kelsey were anywhere to be seen, but that didn't bother them. Sam noticed Nikki's lack of energy, her staring out the window, too absorbed in thought. "You alright?"

"Oh!" Nikki jumped. "Oh...just thinking about my dad and all...and the speech."

"Yeah, that, you ready for the speech today?" Sam asked.

"Yes, I think we'll do well," Nikki replied.

Throughout the bus ride, Sam and Nikki went over their speech about magnets and how to demonstrate to the class what they've learned. After getting to school, they went to their lockers. After Sam placed his backpack into his locker, he came to Nikki's locker, and at that point, they've noticed something odd.

It all started as both observed Cory go over to his locker. Kelsey came up behind him, and when Cory turned around, he initially yelped in surprise, but calmed down quickly. "Ah! Holy shit, you scared me!"

"Did I?" Kelsey let out modest chuckle. "You are one weird kid."

"Y-yeah," Cory shyly nodded. "I...I guess."

There was a moment of awkward silence. Cory was slightly shaking, Sam and Nikki could recognize the same anxiousness that he'd normally have when he was near Kelsey. "So...how's your day?" Kelsey asked.

"I-I'm fine. I'm good." Cory cleared his throat. "I-I-I've j-just been practicing the speech. You know." As Cory put so much energy into making sure he wasn't trying to make a fool of himself in front of Kelsey, his speech became disjointed, his mind racing with anxiety.

"And?" Kelsey leaned in slightly closer.

"I-I just need a rest. It's...it's a-alot to think about." Cory leaned his back upon his locker, folding his arms to his chest. He couldn't look up at Kelsey, only staring down at his shoes.

It was worrying to see Cory always nervous like he is now. Between his crush on her and the upcoming speech, Kelsey couldn't imagine the amount of restless anxiety Cory was going through. She placed her right hand on Cory's left shoulder. "You'll do fine. We'll do fine. We can practice our speech during morning recess if that's what you want."

"Y-yeah," Cory nodded.

"Alright." Kelsey smiled. "Let's get to class."

The pair walked by Nikki and Sam, putting no notice upon the other couple. Needless to say, both Sam and Nikki were in disbelief after witnessing the interaction being less argumentative than they predicted. "Nikki, did you see that?"

"Yeah, I did," Nikki replied.

"She actually wasn't a bitch to him." Sam shook his head. "I can't believe it. Maybe finally she grew the fuck up."

"I don't believe it." Nikki stifled a laugh. "She's nothing but a backstabbing bitch. I bet she'll do the same to Cory too."

"Nikki, come on, you don't think she's changed?" Sam complained.

"I don't see how you can see the good in everyone, or whatever." Nikki folded her arms. "I'm not trying to call you stupid, or anything, I really just want to know your thought process as to why you think Kelsey's changed all of a sudden. Because you know, this is the same cunt that told everyone at school about Cory's parents."

"Well for starters, when most of our class went to ruin Cory's lunch yesterday, Kelsey didn't join in." Sam put his hands into his pockets. "Then again, neither did John, nor Leslie, nor Claire, nor Charlie."

"And you know how those three treated him the last few weeks." Nikki shook her head. "As much of a jerk as my dad's being, he is right about Cory - he's insane, like literally."

"I mean, I'd like to think that there's still some decency in him." Like Kyle, Sam always tried his best to see the good in others. But in Cory's case, Sam saw nothing but darkness in him as time went on. "But I don't know. I...I kinda don't want to talk about this anymore."

"I - I understand." Nikki nodded.

* * *

During morning recess, some of the students in Mr. Garrison's class spent time in the library to rehearse the speech. Cory, Kelsey, Sam, and Nikki were four of such students, all of which feeling the need to go over their science presentations. Although the former pair were away from the latter pair, they were still in plain view of each other, and Sam and Nikki, sure that they were going to do well, were only half focused on their own speech while some of their attention was also on Cory and Kelsey. In the case of Cory and Kelsey, they sat at the back of the library at a computer, their PowerPoint presentation displaying.

Cory was shaking with fear. He did not want to present today. The anxiety of making a fool of himself to the class was so overwhelming he could feel his cognitive functioning shut down. "K-K-Kelsey, I-I c-can't do this. I-I'm gonna suck!"

"No you won't. You did practice like I asked, right?" Kelsey held Cory's hands, sure that it would be the one move to calm him down.

"I d-did, b-but I don't know." Cory couldn't look Kelsey in the eye. While he did practice his part of the speech, the thought of his peers disparaging him always dwelled in the back of his mind.

"Hey, listen to me." Cory and Kelsey then locked eyes with each other. "We're gonna do fine, alright?" Kelsey said with a smile. It was like trying to tend to someone with the mindset of a five-year-old so Kelsey was rather mentally fatigued.

"We're first though, I don't want to be first, I wish we went last."

"But if we went last, then everyone will remember ours the most, and...we'll be under the most pressure."

Kelsey was right, for Cory's own sake, it was probably for the best they got their own speech done as soon as possible, for whatever mistakes they would make, it would be forgotten quickly. Therefore, for the next seven minutes, they rehearsed as diligently as they could, and when the bell finally rang, they began to gather their belongings. "Hey Cory?"

"Yeah?" Cory answered back.

Kelsey paused for a moment before continuing on. "You should go use the restroom and get a drink of water. I think it'll be good for you, alright?" Kelsey rubbed Cory's left shoulder with her right hand.

Cory blushed from Kelsey's contact as he nodded. "Y-yeah. Okay."

Cory left the library first. Kelsey made sure the computer was turned off then left soon after. But as she walked out of the library, she turned the left corner and encountered the last two people she ever wanted to see. Thus, she initially jumped in surprise as she found herself nearly running into Sam and Nikki, but then straightened herself out, her face forming a scowl. "Oh...hi." Far behind Sam and Nikki, Kelsey could see Cory in the distance staring back at the three.

"What are you planning against Cory?" Kelsey could not believe how quickly Nikki accused her of trying to plot against Cory.

"What? N-nothing! I'm trying to help him!" What else could Kelsey say?

Nikki shook her head, not having it. "There is no way."

"Why don't you believe me?" Kelsey asked.

"Because you're always mean to him?" Nikki retorted.

"We're doing a project together, just go away, Jesus Christ!" Kelsey shrieked. She had enough of Nikki's antics, her constant accusations.

Luckily, Sam stepped in between the two, glaring darkly at Nikki. "Nikki, let me try to talk to her, okay?" Nikki obeyed, and stepped away towards Cory, though neither her nor Sam noticed Cory watching. "Look, I know Nikki won't believe you and I understand why."

"Then what's the point of you talking to me then?" Kelsey grew steadily impatient. She wished that she would wish Sam and Nikki away.

Sam sighed. "I...I know Cory can be a pain sometimes but I just hope you do the right thing. That's all."

Kelsey opened her mouth to speak, but nothing could come out of her mouth. Sam and Nikki then walked past Kelsey, heading over to the classroom. Cory then moved over to Kelsey, curiously looking at Sam and Nikki turn the corner, then back to Kelsey. "What did they say?"

"They..." Kelsey had to tell Cory the truth. "...they thought I was trying to hurt you."

"Oh." Cory shoved his hands into his pockets and looked down at his shoes. The memories of what Kelsey had done to him flooded back into his mind.

"C-Cory." Kelsey lightly pulled Cory's hands out of his pockets and held them. Cory made no attempt in resisting. "I promise I won't be mean to you anymore, alright? I'll...I'll stand by you. Yeah."

Cory nodded. "Okay."

* * *

Cory and Kelsey didn't go first for the speeches, however. Charlie Brown had a dentist appointment, so he had to go first, then Mr. Garrison forgot the order. Therefore, Cory and Kelsey went after Nikki and Sam, and would be the last group before lunch time.

"...and that is our report on the physics of refraction. Thank you."

Kelsey stood front and center with great confidence. She was sure she aced the speech, very certain that the group would get a 100% on their report. Cory, on the other hand, was the downer of the two. While he still believed that Kelsey did fine, he was so sure that he himself didn't do so well. He could feel himself mess up on wording, all he could remember was the many times he stuttered in front of the class. When the bell rang, Cory immediately stormed out of the classroom, shaken with disappointment and anger.

Kelsey frowned at the sight. Why couldn't Cory appreciate the good things about himself. As the rest of the classroom cleared, Kelsey went to Mr. Garrison, who was busy typing away at his keyboard. She managed to catch a slight view of Mr. Garrison playing Alien Isolation on his computer. "Ahem, Mr. Garrison?"

"Oh shit!" Mr. Garrison jumped, quickly closing out the video game program, returning the computer to its desktop screen. "Right. Uh...you have a question, Kelsey?"

"Actually I wanted to thank you for pairing me up with Cory." Kelsey scratched her head. "He's...pretty cuckoo, if you know what I mean."

Mr. Garrison nodded. "Do you want to see your grade on your presentation?"

"Yes, please," Kelsey replied. Her heart thumped. What if she didn't get at least an A-? Now she had to know.

Mr. Garrison handed over her group's grading rubric printed on white paper. Kelsey went through all the numbers and discovered that both she and Cory got a perfect 100% score on the speech. "That was _literally_ the best report I've seen in over twenty years of me teaching." That was also _literally_ the first time Mr. Garrison complimented Kelsey, as far as she could remember.

Kelsey blinked a few times. "Oh...uh, thanks. We worked pretty, pretty well as a team."

"Damn right you did. See, I was right all along, wasn't I?"

"Ha...ha...ha...I think I'll be going to lunch now." Kelsey waved her free left hand. "Bye, Mr. Garrison."

"Bye."

It was rather odd seeing how kind Mr. Garrison was being, which is much unlike his usual sarcastic, cranky self. But she didn't complain about that, nor did she complain about her perfect score on the speech. But she turned the corner to see Cory sitting down and quietly sobbing. Immediately she panicked, as seeing Cory cry must have meant something must have messed with him again. So Kelsey sprinted over to Cory. "Cory, what's wrong?" She knelt down in front of Cory. "Please tell me."

"I d-d-did h-horrible o-on the s-speech, I'm sorry." In a warped way, it was relieving that at least no one tried to pick on Cory this time. It was saddening too, however, that he had so little confidence in himself. "I suck, I-"

"No!" Kelsey was too forceful with her voice, however, and it made Cory jump and cease crying immediately. "Oh...uh...sorry...what I meant to say is that we got a perfect score. On the speech, yeah, that one."

Cory began to wipe away his tears with the sleeves of his purple jacket. "You're lying."

"No, I'm really not." Kelsey offered out the score-sheet that Mr. Garrison handed him.

Cory took the score-sheet and very carefully and precisely read through every single section, every word and number, two whole minutes elapsing. "Holy shit! You're - you're right, we did do it, but I-I don't know how...it must have been all you though." Cory handed over the score-sheet to Kelsey.

But Kelsey didn't accept the paper. "We wouldn't have gotten a perfect score if you didn't do you're part...but I did notice you spoke a lot better this time than you gave yourself credit for."

Cory went through the memory again. Perhaps Kelsey was right, he started to remember he didn't stutter as much as usual, that he sounded far more confident. Then he remembered that he held Kelsey's left hand the entire time he spoke. Somehow, the physical contact allowed him to channel some of his stress onto her.

Kelsey lifted her left hand to take off her left pink glove, revealing that her hand was entirely red. "You squeeze pretty hard by the way," she criticized.

"S-sorry," Cory apologized.

Kelsey slipped her glove back on. "You should go to lunch first. I'll catch up with you, I just need to...run some errands first." She hugged Cory, knowing how happy it'd make him.

He blushed, as predicted, his heart soaring. He wanted to stay like this forever, but then Kelsey let him go. "A-alright, thanks." Kelsey walked away. She had something in mind for Cory, and a smile formed. But unlike most of her other times she smiled, this one was real, genuine, and kind.

Cory blissfully walked to the cafeteria. Lunch was hamburgers and fries, and while he sat alone, again, this time, he didn't mind. Today had already went well in his favor, and he just needed some time to think and be able to rationalize everything. After fifteen minutes, Kelsey did eventually come by to Cory's table with her tray of lunch as well, sitting directly across from Cory. It was difficult for Cory to concentrate on his own lunch as he tried his best to resist Kelsey's features.

"So Cory," Kelsey asked, "you don't have a date for the dance tomorrow, do you?"

Cory completely forgot about the dance. The events of the last few weeks must have made it completely slip from his mind. "N-no. I d-don't. What about you? Aren't you still with John?"

"No, we're kinda over with since a while ago. He probably has a date at this point." Kelsey then revealed the dance tickets. She originally was rather nervous about what her friends thought, but now she was confident she'll be able to convince her friends of everything. After all, Cory did need her. "Do you...want to go to the dance with me?"

"Wait...seriously?" Those were the words Cory would have never expected any girl to ask him, no less a girl who was pretty and popular.

"Yeah, seriously. I mean, I know we still don't know each other that well, and I kinda hurt you in a way, but I really want to make it up to you, if you're interested. Just bought these just now so just say yes you dork." Kelsey offered over one of the dance tickets to Cory.

Cory nodded and took one of the dance tickets. "Thank you! Yes!"

It was very refreshing to see how happy Cory was, far different than his normal moody self. This is the way everyone was meant to be, and seeing Cory no longer terrified like he usually is made her so happy she nearly cried, but she held the tears back. During lunch recess, Kelsey went off to use the restroom and Cory went outside. He didn't play with anyone like usual but he was too giddy and emotional from Kelsey to care about it.

Things changed, however, as most of Cory's classmates revealed themselves and began to gather around Cory. Oh no, not again. They all surrounded him near the west wall, preventing him from going anywhere. The entire playground quickly fell silent.

"Kelsey's not around, right?" Carter Jenkins, one of Cory's classmates asked.

"No, I don't think so," Kat Allen replied.

"It doesn't matter." Cindy Tucker pointed straight at Cory. "What does is the stupid skit we still have to do because of you."

"Y-you're still onto that?" Cory stuttered back. "Y-you ruined my lunch yesterday already!"

"You're the reason why our last week of school is so shitty, the reason we have two projects instead of one!" Steven Emery shouted.

"What are we waiting for?" Sarah Hendricks asked. "Let's just kick his ass already? I'm all done talking!"

"I agree!" Travis Brent said.

The class slowly inched towards Cory, with the intent to ravage and eviscerate him like hordes of zombies coming after the living. But before they could take any action, Kelsey stepped outside to the playground only to discover the horrors of what was happening. "What the hell?!"

All of a sudden, the class stopped, as if expecting Kelsey to show up. They turned around to her. "There she is; the girl herself!" Kelly Leone shouted.

"Kelsey, just drop the love act and kick his ass like normal people, like us!" Linda Anderson said.

"Yeah, come on!" The rest of the class said.

Kelsey gulped, finding herself at the center of attention, and this time, not the good kind. She looked between Cory's begging gaze upon her, and the angry eyes of the hostile crowd glaring down at her. At the four-square markings, she saw John and Leslie quietly watching the entire exchange, showing no reaction. Claire and her new friends (with Charlie Brown) were at the opposite wall. And behind John and Leslie were Sam and Nikki, shooting eyes of judgement upon Kelsey.

Realistically, Kelsey found herself at the crossroads, or more specifically the crossroads of destiny, and whichever path she took could determine her future friendships. She knew she could take the left way, the easy way, to join in with the crowd against Cory. She knew that she if she went the right way instead, to side with Cory, they'll turn against her. The worst part is that she knew how Cory felt, being in his position at one point, she never wanted to experience what Cory went through again. Furthermore, taking care of Cory was very tiring, and at least she could save herself.

On the other hand, while she did create her group of girls with intent to have a stable group of friends, she abused her powers for vengeance, knowing she could get away with it all. She realized how horrible she had become, akin to a cruel, manipulative dictator. But here's the thing: she never figured Cory to be a leader, and based on how much she had known him, will probably be alone. That was bad though, as those people ended up being murderers and rapists, according to Sam (though she insulted Sam for over-exaggerating just for the sake of shock value), and if Kelsey had a hunch, Cory was probably suspicious of girls in general. Nonetheless, the result of Cory should she choose the left way would probably play out differently; she predicted that it was not in his character to amass a group of followers - though the end result would not be any better than what Kelsey had ever done.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Helen Tweek asked.

"I know what I have to do," Kelsey muttered to herself as she waved her bangs back from covering her eyes. She initially stepped into the circle, but to the entire playground's surprise, stood by Cory. "Stop right now! You are not going to hurt Cory anymore! Go to hell!" She struggled to say every word. Deep down, she was shivering in fear, and while she usually tried to stay optimistic, she knew this could only turn out badly for her, but not enough to avoid doing the right thing.

Cory gasped, however. The only thing better than someone stepping in to your defense is someone stepping in to your defense who is a friend. The only thing better than that is for them to be the person who defended you to be your longtime crush. And the only thing better than that is for them to do it because they know you had a crush on them. And that was the feeling Cory felt, of bravery and confidence.

But that didn't stop the crowd, no, it only made them angrier, seeing this as an act of betrayal. "Who the fuck do you think you are?!" Natalie Black shrieked.

"'Who the fuck do you think you are?!'" Kelsey mocked back. "I fucking made you, bitch, so you better do as I say, and you better fuck off!"

"There's like thirty of us or whatever so who gives a fuck about what you say anymore?!" Helen Tweek shouted.

"Let's beat up both Cory AND Kelsey!" Daisy Biggle added. "That will show them!"

"Wait what?!" Kelsey panicked in surprise.

Neither Cory nor Kelsey ever thought they were going to go down together, but at this point they didn't care. They clung onto each other tightly, praying that something merciful would happen to them. But the other children already sprang into action, pulling away at their hair, leaving Cory and Kelsey screaming in pain.

Sam and Nikki watched from the distance. Nikki wasn't sure what to think. On one hand, she knew of all the atrocities Kelsey and she had done. On the other, the fact Kelsey would jump in against many other kids in the defense of Cory clearly told Nikki that this was no act, that Kelsey's actions were all to real. Overall, she was unsure. Sam, however, saw that Kelsey had grown a heart, and despite the conflict they had, she needed him now more than ever. "I'm going in."

"Sam, are you crazy?! They'll kill you!" Nikki was most concerned for Sam's safety.

But Sam didn't care. If Kelsey would risk getting some cuts and bruises to be a good person, then so should he. "YOU might be comfortable backing out, but I'm not! I've learned two things these past few weeks, and it's that people change and you should always acquaint yourself with those willing to improve!"

"Sam, wait!"

But Sam didn't want to hear Nikki's excuse any longer. "If you want to be a coward then we are done talking!" He went towards the group. "Guys, stop this! This isn't right!"

The mob did stop - to turn on Sam. While Cory and Kelsey backed themselves to thre wall, Kelly Leone pushed Sam to the ground. "Like we'll listen to you, go preach somewhere else, annoying faggot!"

"Yeah, wasn't his dad the annoying one in school?!" Kurt Eastwood laughed.

Sam was left on the ground, soaked with snow and cold water. He underestimated how strong Kelly was and struggled to get up. As far as Nikki knew, despite the arguments she and Sam had in the past, at the end of the day, she always trusted Sam's sense of morality, and if he saw change in Kelsey, even risking himself to help her, then Nikki should have stood by Sam, but she didn't. And now Sam was on the floor hurt because of Nikki's distrust and inaction, and that most certainly made her blood boil. "No one hurts Sam and gets away with it!" she swore underneath her breath.

Unlike Kelsey and Sam, however, Nikki was not forgiving, not willing to keep it civil any longer. If they were going to retaliate with violence to people who tried to be peaceful, then it was time for Nikki to drop the hammer. She noticed a fourth grade boy watching while holding a football. Nikki walked up to him and snatched the football from his arms.

"Hey, give that back!" the boy panicked.

Nikki stomped her right foot towards the boy. "Back off!" she growled angrily, and the boy flinched backwards in fear.

Nikki knew how to throw a football, thanks to Physical Education. Holding it in her right hand, she aimed for Kelly's head as the mob inched closer towards Cory and Kelsey. Nikki hurled the ball at Kelly, smacking her in the head, causing her to fall into the rest of the mob, which causes the rest to fall. It was an amusing sight, like watching dominoes fall on each other.

As the mob laid on the ground, Cory and Kelsey held each other tightly, gazing at Nikki in terror as they breathed in and out heavily, their eyes dilated, their hair messy. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU GUYS DOING?!" Nikki screamed at the mob. She went over to Sam and bent down. Weaving her arms through Sam's armpits, she lifted him up so that he could stand on his feet then let go of him. While Sam was busy wiping snow and water off of himself, Nikki continued to verbally go berserk on the crowd. "YOU ASSHOLES ARE THE WORST PEOPLE I'VE EVER SEEN! YOU WILL NOT HURT THEM ANYMORE! JUST GO DIE IN A HOLE AND BURN IN HELL FOR ALL I CARE!" After the way Sam was pushed down, he was clearly not in the mood to try to stop Nikki, in fact, he believed they deserved every nasty word they received. "FUCK ALL OF YOU AND KILL YOURSELVES OR SOMETHING!" Nikki then let out a harsh exhale. "Let's go, Sam..." Nikki then turned to Cory and Kelsey and pointed straight at them. "As for you two, you're both coming with us!"

"Y-y-yes m-m-m-ma'am!" Cory and Kelsey both stammered, holding each other tightly for dear life, shivering with extreme fear. After the way they were abused by the now downed mob and the way they witnessed Nikki go fully insane (her pure aggression almost made them cry), both were too scared to even try to argue against Nikki. They obeyed immediately, stepping on the downed mob and without another word, followed Sam and Nikki to the school building.

The rest of the students remained silent, but at that moment, they could feel guilt upon them. No one returned to their previous activities.

Sam, Nikki, Kelsey, and Cory were alone in the hallway. They stopped in front of some lockers. Cory and Kelsey still hugged each other while shivering in fear. "Y-y-you're n-not gonna hurt us, are you?" He softly cried into Kelsey's right shoulder.

"...no," Nikki softly said, scratching her head, embarrassed by her sudden outburst just earlier.

"Let's just go to Mr. Vanson," Kelsey begged.

Nikki and Sam looked at each other, then shot looks at the other couple, as if they were crazy. "You sure about this?" Sam asked. "I mean - historically, all of our previous counselors were complete shit, and I wouldn't be surprised-"

"JUST TAKE US TO HIM!" Kelsey shouted. The then started crying softly into Cory's right shoulder.

Sam and Nikki lept back in surprised from the sudden raise of Kelsey's voice. "Alright, jeez, don't yell!" Nikki retorted. "We'll take you to him...if that's what you want."

Cory and Kelsey cried softly during the walk. It was weird for Sam and Nikki, seeing how this was the first time within at least a year that they have seen Kelsey shed a tear, but here she was, in the arms of the boy she'd never thought she'd be with. Therefore, the four walked fairly quickly, not stopping until they finally reached the door to Mr. Vanson's office. Sam knocked four time.

"Come in," Mr. Vanson's voice came from the other side of the door.

Mr. Vanson's heart dropped once again for the third time in the row this week as he saw the four kids walk in, Cory and Kelsey BOTH sobbing quietly. There were only two chairs for the children to sit down on. "Oh shit. Hold on kids, I'll be right back." Mr. Vanson disappeared for a brief few moments, then came back with two more chairs, laying them all out in a row facing Mr. Vanson's desk. Mr. Vanson then closed the door. "Are you guys alright? What happened?"

"Most of our class attacked Cory and Kelsey, if it weren't for the two of us," Sam replied, "they might have hurt them real bad."

Mr. Vanson pushed a box of tissues over to the children. "Explain."

Sam and Nikki explained everything that had happened to the playground. From most of the class except John, Leslie, Claire, and Charlie going in to hurt Cory, to Kelsey stepping in to try to defend Cory, but to no avail, from Sam trying to chat peacefully with the class but getting pushed down because of it, to Nikki responding with violence against the class because Sam was pushed down.

"So wait, most of the kids in your class, even my daughter?" Mr. Vanson asked.

Nikki's eyes gazed over to the picture held within a wooden frame, the one that showed Vanson, along with Annie Nelson, now Annie Vanson, and Helen Tweek. "Yes, even Helen."

"My God, I'm gonna have a chat with her later about this." Mr. Vanson's blood nearly boiled, but remained calm, after all he had to set a good example for the four kids. "First, I want to say that Nikki, it was unwise to respond with violence."

"They hurt Sam, I wasn't going to let them get away with it!" Nikki replied.

"And I, for one, am quite happy for what Nikki did." Sam was rather moody about the whole thing as he sat in his chair with his arms folded. Normally he'd chide Nikki for being too rough on others, but when it came to the situation at the playground, he felt zero kindness towards their adversaries.

Mr. Vanson had always been a pacifist at heart, only going to violence himself as a means of last resort, but when it came to that situation, no matter how much he disagreed with Nikki's action, it was probably the most effective at stopping them from continuing hurting Cory and Kelsey.

He was going to talk again, but Nikki continued on as she held Sam's hands. "Sam, I should have believed that Kelsey changed, helped you talk some sense in them, but I didn't and they hurt you because of it, I'm sorry."

"Nikki, it's fine, really, I understand where you're coming from, but I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," Sam reasoned as the lunch bell then rung, signalling that it was time for the children to head back to their classrooms.

"Right..." Nikki let Sam's hands go as she turned to the other two. The kids were seated (from left to right in Mr. Vanson's point of view) Sam, Nikki, Kelsey, then Cory. "Guys, I'm really sorry for all the trouble we caused on you for the past few weeks."

"I-I shouldn't have told Sam to k-kill himself," Cory nervously said, "I-I-I w-wasn't thinking straight-"

"Cory, it's not your fault, really," Sam comforted. "I messed with you and wasn't a good friend to you."

As the other three children fell silent, Kelsey stopped sniffling. "I just wanted to say...that I was the one who made those girls into who they are."

"You give yourself too much credit, honestly," Nikki criticized, "remember that they were just as angry deep down inside as well as you were."

"But I encouraged them, Nikki, for them to bring out their very worst on others, I threw you aside and treated you like shit too, even broke the promise we made about Cory's parents," Kelsey then looked down at her pants in shame. "I tried to be happy with life, tried to make school a happy experience for myself, and if this is what happens, then I guess I myself don't deserve happiness." Kelsey refused to look at anyone else as she slowly straightened her hair with her hands by running her fingers through the strands.

Nikki frowned. There had to be some way to cheer Kelsey up. "Do you remember how we sing those corny old pop songs to try to cheer each other up whenever one of us felt like crap?"

Kelsey then slowly looked up at Nikki. "Um..."

Nikki cleared her throat. "'Last Friday Night, yeah we danced on tabletops, and we took too many shots, think we kissed but I forgot...'" Nikki then leaned forward to Kelsey while smiling, hoping she'd catch on.

Sam and Cory sat watching the girls awkwardly while Mr. Vanson calculative face slowly formed a smile from the tips of his mouth. He was rather impressed how much the children had learned and matured over a short amount of time. Just yesterday, he thought he was going to hate his job due to the horror stories he heard from other faculty members about the children, but through watching these four forgive each other, perhaps he had hope for them yet. Their methods were weird, indeed, but if it made them happy, then Mr. Vanson would be happy.

Kelsey then started singing along with Nikki. "'Last Friday Night, yeah we maxed our credit cards, and got kicked out of the bars, so we hit the boulevards...'" Nikki beamed from seeing Kelsey finally start to cheer up.

Sam, however, held his hands out. He knew that once the girls started singing, there was no stopping them. "Yeah, this is getting too weird, we're in Mr. Vanson's office, come on now."

Nikki and Kelsey both started laughing. "Oh, classic Sam," Kelsey teased.

"I think it's nice," Cory said modestly.

"See?" Nikki sneered. "Cory thinks we're fine."

"He think _I'm_ fine," Kelsey snickered, which caused Cory to blush.

"Oh great," Sam rolled his eyes.

"I'm actually glad you four are getting along again," Mr. Vanson interrupted. "I gotta say though, I've been here for just three days, and I can already tell that you four are just as wise as your fathers were when they were younger."

"Haha, good joke," Sam grinned.

Mr. Vanson shook his head. "No, I'm completely serious, Sam. Your parents made mistakes, yes," the children nodded at the word "mistake". "But you shouldn't let that give you a bad opinion of them, they were great kids who helped others out, and seeing the four of you stand against the hivemind really puts..." Mr. Vanson began to sniffle, nearly crying tears of joy. But then he remained poised, wiping his eyes once and clearing his throat. "Ahem. Anyways, Cory, I will tell Mr. Garrison about this, and he will make sure you will not return to class anymore for the rest of the year."

"Why not?" Cory asked. "You can do that?"

"Your safety here at school is of my concern," Mr. Vanson reasoned. "You'll be staying at the library during classtime for the next two days, and don't worry, there will be some other random students so you're not alone. And as for you three-" Mr. Vanson then turned to Sam, Nikki, and Kelsey. "I want to thank you three for helping out Cory."

"You're welcome," the three other children nodded.

"Any more questions?" After none of the four children said anything, Mr. Vanson then concluded with, "Well seeing as how lunch already ended, Cory, you can make your way over to the library, and for the rest of you, you can go back to class. Dismissed."

The four kids walked out of the office. In the middle of the hallway, they faced each other. "It's been a pretty wild ride, these last few years, and especially this last week," Sam started.

"It's not over, we still have my dad to deal with," Nikki replied. "Oh and we have the dance too."

"I'll think of something." Sam already had something in mind for the dance. It was time for him to make a speech, but it will all come together in due time.

Cory then spoke up. "Can I talk to Kelsey...alone?"

"Yeah, sure," Nikki replied, while Kelsey nodded.

Cory and Kelsey walked around the corner, making sure the other pair could hear. "You have something in mind?" Kelsey asked.

Cory started to lightly sob again. "Kelsey, I-I d-d-don't w-want to go to the dance anymore."

Kelsey was in shock. She figured it would be Cory's dream to go to the dance with her. "W-why not? I mean we already paid for the tickets."

"Y-y-you know what my class d-did to me," Cory reasoned. "T-they'll mess with me somehow."

While it was sad to see Cory so pessimistic all the time, he did raise a good point. It was two days in a row where people went after him, plus they went after Kelsey too, so therefore, she nodded in agreement. "I understand, and I think they'll try to get me too. It's just that we have no one to give these tickets to, and it's not right to just waste them away or something like that."

Before Cory could say anything, they noted Kailey Broflovski and Martin Cartman walk by with sad expressions on their faces. "Kailey, I'm really sorry we couldn't get any dance tickets."

"It's fine," Kailey replied. "There's always next year and the years after."

Cory wiped away his tears. "T-they must have sold out." He then turned to Kelsey. "Kelsey, I know just what to do."

Kelsey nodded and smiled, immediately understanding. "Go for it."

Cory and Kelsey then walked over to the younger pair, which caught their attention. "We heard you couldn't get dance tickets so..." Cory and Kelsey both offered out their tickets. "...so we'll give you both a chance, to have ours."

Kailey and Martin looked at each other in bewilderment, then back at Cory and Kelsey. "You mean it?" Kailey asked.

"Absolutely," Kelsey nodded.

Martin then took Cory's ticket and examined it fully. "Holy wow, this is awesome! Thanks!"

Kailey took Kelsey's ticket and hugged her. "Thanks, Kelsey! I don't know what Sammy was saying earlier but you seem nicer today!"

"Aw, that's so sweet," Kelsey cooed as she hugged Kailey back.

After a moment or two, Kailey then moved off of Kelsey. "Bye!" she waved. Kailey and Martin then left the older pair alone.

Kelsey then looked back at Cory. "I think we did the right thing, but do you regret this?"

Cory shook his head. "No. I won't."

* * *

Kyle, Bebe, Sam, and Kailey pulled up to the Marsh residence. While Bebe, Sam, and Kailey made their way inside, Kyle had to get on the phone. Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed Eric Cartman's number and after waiting for a few moments, Eric responded.

"Hello Kyle," Eric said.

"Hey, Eric," Kyle replied.

"Anything on mind you wanted?" Eric replied back.

"Actually, yes, my son Sam told me about how you're not allowing him to see Nikki, even though they're in a relationship together," Kyle said.

"You damn right know they're not allowed to be together," Eric said, "and you know why? Because you know how boys will be."

"They're just ten, and they've only been at it since like Saturday, so give them a break," Kyle suggested.

"So you HAVE known of them but didn't tell me!" Eric shot back.

"Yes, and this is exactly why I didn't tell you, because you're being so stubborn about this for no good reason!"

Stan came out to the driveway to see Kyle argue on the phone with Eric. "No good reason? You know what boys are capable of? You remember what we did when we were younger?"

"I do, and you don't need to make a speech about it." Stan chuckled to himself as he heard Kyle say that over the phone, the irony too sweet. "Regardless, neither of us can realistically stop them, if they want to date so badly they'll find creative ways to do so."

"Then I'll find creative ways to stop it." Eric then cut the line.

Kyle put his phone away and sighed. "I swear, sometimes Eric is just as stupid as his young self." He then turned around, noticing Stan watching him. "Oh, hey dude."

"That was Eric on the phone, right?" Stan asked. "What was that all about?"

Kyle sighed. "Eric doesn't want Sam dating Nikki, thinks he's gonna do things to her."

"Oh. I see. He's one of those overprotective dads, huh?" Stan then looked back. "Wanna come inside?"

Kyle nodded. "Sure." The first thing Kyle noticed inside was Cory and Sam walk upstairs together chatting. "That's actually nice to see, our sons getting along again."

Cory and Sam were in Cory's bedroom. They both sat on Cory's bed. "You're going to the dance, right?"

"No...but my parents think I will be," Cory replied.

"Why not?" Sam asked.

"Because I don't want to deal with them anymore, the kids, and they'll probably find some way to mess it up for me, like those shows about nerds going to dances where a prank gets played on them or something," Cory replied.

"That's - that's probably true," Sam agreed.

"How are you so optimistic all the time?" Cory asked.

"Me? Ha, I'm not _that_ optimistic, I mean you saw the way I agreed with Nikki in the office right?" Cory nodded while Sam continued on. "I'm just good at keeping myself steady, I think, I just like to think that if people were nicer to each other, this place would be better."

"You're right," Cory nodded.

"That said, I'm sure there's some things you could have done to fix stuff, anyone you wronged?" Sam asked.

Cory then thought back to how angry Charlie Brown was at him when he caused him to get detention, forfeiting the perfect student award he should have gotten because of the peer pressure outputted from _Cory_ himself - even though it was Cory's intent to fix Charlie's scraped leg. He knew what he should do to fix it. "Charlie Brown."

Sam laughed. "What?"

"Charlie tripped and fell, so we broke into the nurse's office so I could fix it up, but I got him in trouble and now he hates me because he can't get his perfect student award for this year." Cory clenched his fists. "But I know how to fix it. I'll talk to Principal Victoria."

"I'm not sure if she'll care." Sam shrugged. "But you can try I guess. Say...wanna play some video games while we wait for dinner."

"Sure," Cory replied.

The two went down to the TV where they plugged in the playstation. "There's this cool video game you gotta try out, it's called 'Park Souls' and it's really fun." Sam and Kailey snickered deviously.

Cory raised an eyebrow at them. "Why are you two laughing?"

"It's just a great modern RPG you gotta try out," Sam replied. "Alright Kailey, when do you think Cory will suffer his first death?"

"Probably five minutes in," Kailey replied.

Cory stared at the Broflovski children in shock. "What?!"

"Just play the damn game," Sam said as he handed Cory the controller.

The intro was about how a fungal infection called the CBI swept through the globe, which effectively turned the human population into living zombies. "Oh, so a zombie apocalypse, basically, I'm not really a fan of zombies to be honest." Cory found zombies rather disgusting and disturbing. The game then went into a character creation screen. "Oh cool, I can make my own character." Cory then ended up making a skinny Caucasian man with light blue hair, choosing the class "track-and-field runner". He then hit accept. What came up next was his character slowly rising inside a classroom, and the words "SOUTH PARK HIGH" pop up then fade out on the screen. "Okay I'm in the game, but I don't have any weapons, and it doesn't look like I can find any anywhere. Did I pick the wrong class?"

"Class only determines your starting attributes," Sam replied. "This is mostly a melee game though, you use guns to parry melee. Which you don't have."

Through the tutorial messages on the ground, Cory learned how to move around, dodge, attack, and use an item. Cory used two out of three healing bandages by mistake. Then Cory moved his character into the gymnasium, and encountered his first enemy: the "zombie" was a large, fat naked humanoid with fungus nastily growing out of its skin, its face split apart nearly in two such that the facial features are no longer recognizable. It stood underneath the basketball hoop at the opposite end of the gym. "Uh, ew!" Cory cringed while Sam and Kailey tried their hardest to hold back laughter.

"It's called a 'bloater'," Sam said.

Cory walked his character forward. Then the bloater sprang into action, tossing sacks that trailed fungal smoke at Cory's character. It exploded, releasing a toxic gas, casuing Cory to lose health. "Damnit, what the fuck?" Cory moved his character to the bloater. "I guess I have to fight it."

Yet Cory neglected to notice two things: first he could have climbed onto the bleachers and escape the gym through the window, and second, he didn't see he could go into the closet on the opposite side to pick up a vital item that was showing in a glowing white orb, causing Sam and Kailey to laugh more.

"I have no weapons, and I'm doing like five damage per hit," Cory complained as he had his character punch the bloater with bare fists.

All of a sudden, the bloater raised its left arm, going for a grab motion, and Cory didn't dodge it in time. Therefore, the bloater grabbed Cory's character, forcefully turned Cory's character around. It's right fingers dug into his eyes, causing blood to spurt out while its left fingers dug into his mouth, forcefully opening his mouth. A second later, his jaw was ripped out, separated from the rest of his head, blood splattering, and Cory's character died instantly, the words "YOU DIED" in red showing on the screen.

Cory himself stared at the TV screen in shock. "What the fuck?! This is so fucking stupid! I died like instantly! How do you even play this game?!"

"Congrats, Cory, you only lasted one minute, twenty-two seconds before your first death," Sam said.

"Fuck you both," Cory groaned, to which Sam and Kailey started laughing. "How far did you even get in this game?"

"North Park," Sam replied. "You gotta time your dodges."

"I'll get hit anyways," Cory said.

"No you won't, because dodging gives I-frames," Sam said.

"What's that?" Cory asked.

"When you dodge, you are invulnerable to most attacks for a split second or so, that includes grabs," Sam explained. "Doesn't matter which direction you dodge. Pretty much how you deal with most enemies, you dodge attacks and you melee them to death. Especially bosses."

"How many bosses are in that game?" Cory asked.

"Like twenty," Sam replied.

Then Wendy popped her head through the doorway to the kitchen. "Dinner's ready!"

Dinner was steak, bread, and steamed carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower. The children were somewhat quiet while the adults chatted, Stan and Wendy sitting across from Kyle and Bebe.

"Things had been a bit awkward at my work," Stan said, "people know about my history, and it - it just sucks." Wendy frowned, rubbing Stan's back.

"Sorry about that," Bebe said.

"It's fine," Stan nodded. "At least people have the decency not to bring it up. My dad had to come up and tell people to cut the gossip so that's probably why."

"You know, speaking of gossip, I've noticed something interesting," Wendy said. "Kelly Nelson has returned to South Park." This caused Cory, Sam, and Kailey to start paying attention to the adults.

"You're talking about THE Kelly Nelson, the one who Kenny was with until they had their daughter?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah, one of my coworkers mentioned it," Wendy continued, "heard she took a nursing job at Hell's Pass Hospital."

"That's actually..." Bebe struggled to find the right words to say, "I mean, if Kenny hears about this, you think he'll want her to come back?"

"I'm sure Kenny misses her," Stan said.

"And why else would Kelly come back to South Park, unless Hell's Pass Hospital pays better and grants better benefits?" Kyle added.

Later after dinner, the children played different video games. Then, while Sam and Cory were packing the playstation, Cory said, "what if Kelsey's mom came back? Should we tell her?"

"I don't know," Sam replied. "I'm not sure it's our place. Hey...it's been nice seeing you again."

"You too," Cory replied.

"Good luck tomorrow by the way," Sam added.

"Yeah," Cory said and smiled.

After the Broflovskis left the house, Cory went to bed. He was glad that everything was nearing the end, and now he was feeling very hopeful.

* * *

 **The fic is nearing the end, and I just want to say that writing drama is difficult for me, but regardless, it's been a great ride. There will be three more chapters, the last one being an epilogue, so stay tuned. Until next time, guys.**

 **Oh, and yes, Park Souls is purely fictional and is basically where Bloodborne meets The Last of Us.**


	22. Chapter 22: The Dance of Eternity

**Hey guys. I've been quite busy over the past year with college, which was why I didn't update at all. Another reason was that I didn't really find writing drama that fun. Don't take this the wrong way, I'm still going to finish this story without a doubt, it's just that it can be quite difficult to sit down and write a genre that I'm rather neutral towards. It generally took me way more energy trying to write this than it really should have.**

 **With that said, here it is.**

* * *

 **Chapter 22**

Nikki and Martin Cartman both stood at the bus stop during the beautiful, sunny Thursday morning. Both children were silent; Martin was busy playing games on his phone while Nikki was scanning the horizon for her friends. Nikki wore completely different attire now - a light blue hooded jacket, dark blue gloves, and dark blue pants. After a few minutes, she could see the figure of a blonde girl walking towards her, and as it got closer, she could see that it was Kelsey McCormick walking towards her. And unlike other recent mornings, she was glad to see Kelsey coming to greet her. Kelsey also wore a brown jacket with a hoodie, black pants, and pink gloves.

Kelsey smiled warmly as she approached the Cartman children. "Hey." Her wave, while casual, sent the message that she too was happy to see them.

"Kelsey!" Nikki and Kelsey ran up to each other and embraced each other in a hug. "I didn't think you'd be taking the bus today."

Kelsey broke away from Nikki. "Well, here I am, right?" She let out a lighthearted chuckle. "How's your day today?"

"It's good," Nikki replied. "Hey, are you actually going to see the Twilight remake?"

Kelsey raised an eyebrow. "Why is everyone talking about that movie all of a sudden? No I haven't seen it, but apparently our...uh, former friend Kelly thought it was good."

"Why'd she say that?" Nikki maintained eye contact with Kelsey, her brown eyes staring at the blonde girl.

"I'm not sure, she didn't really say, though Susan was complaining about women being portrayed as prizes or something, and was hoping that movie wouldn't objectify women." Kelsey let out a shrug. "Her words, not mine."

"Let's...let's just not do politics right now, okay?" Nikki always did her best to avoid any political topics, knowing how potentially toxic such debates usually ended up, undesirable for any civil discussion.

"You're right." After a few moments of awkward silence, a different topic had crossed her mind. "Heard some of the girls at Raisins are quitting."

"You still work there?" Nikki let out a few snickers.

"What? No, I just kept in contact with some of the girls, they're pretty nice." While some of the girls seemed to come off as opportunistic just to do their job and hopefully weed out extra money into their own pockets, they all had stories in their backgrounds Kelsey could empathize with, stories akin to what Kelsey had been through. "Management turned shitty apparently, less workers to cut costs, so place is understaffed a lot."

Nikki nodded. Only having a basic clue of how management worked, she trusted Kelsey in telling the truth. "I...I see. I mean, I know Raisins, but I've never really experienced it, you know..."

"The cash is nice, but it's not something you're missing out on...wait, I thought you did work there too!" It left Kelsey confused, she could have sworn that Nikki also worked at Raisins, or did she remember wrong?

Nikki shook her head in disapproval. "What? They would have never let a fat girl like me work there, those assholes."

Kelsey wasn't sure what Nikki was getting at, she was about as far from being fat as possible. "You're not fat though, what?"

"I _was_."

Kelsey opened her mouth to try to counter Nikki's point, but the more she remembered what Nikki was like, the more she had to concede to Nikki's point. Sadly, history tends to repeat itself in one way or another, and just like how Eric Cartman was bullied for his weight and mannerisms when he was as young as six years old before finally snapping when he was nine, Nikki followed the similar pattern. While obviously not nearly as extreme as turning Scott Tenorman's parents into chili and feeding it to him, by principle, Nikki snapped too by creating a gang of beautiful girls who bullied others. "True."

A few moments later, Sam and Kailey Broflovski came over to the bus stop. Sam also wore completely different attire - aside from having no headwear, he wore a green hooded jacket, brown scarf around his neck, brown gloves, and blue pants. "Hey guys." Sam waved to the two girls, greeting them with a welcoming smile.

"Sam!" Nikki leaped over to Sam to hug him.

Despite his best on keeping his cool, this sent butterflies through his heart and a blush on his cheeks, emotions he couldn't contain. "Uh...h-h-hey." Sam could not hide the blush that deeply reddened his cheeks.

Kailey giggled loudly as he watched her other brother hold his girlfriend. "As, Sammy loves Nikki!"

Sam, embarrassed, broke away from Nikki. "K-K-Kailey, j-just sh-shush." Conflicting emotions caused Sam to stutter deeply, earning a giggle from Nikki.

"You two oughta get a room," Kelsey snickered.

Nikki, guessing what Kelsey meant, now blushed as well. "Kelsey!"

Kelsey was about to say more until her she scanned the horizon, her eyes falling upon a sixth approaching child. _Now who could this possibly be? It was always five of us here._ As the child came closer, she could make out the features - a male their age, with black hair, a black hooded jacket, and black pants. The combination of colors and his appearance initially threw Kelsey off - she knew no one who typically wore all black like that. However, upon making out the boy's facial features as he got closer, there was joy forming within Kelsey. "Guys, look! It's Cory!" She pointed at the approaching figure with her left index finger.

"No way!" Nikki let go of Sam as she turned to also witness Cory's approach.

As the rest of the children at the bus stop also turned heads, Cory walked slowly with caution, feelings of nervousness and awkwardness sending chills down his spine. He was worried if they'd accept him at the bus stop, afraid that they wouldn't want him there. "H-h-hey guys."

"Hey!" And to Cory's surprise, Kelsey jumped to Cory and hugged him tightly.

The feelings of Kelsey hugging him brought bright shades of red in Cory's cheeks. He became so emotional that he couldn't think properly, too focused on Kelsey to be able to speak coherently. He murmured some unintelligible sounds that none of the other children could understand, due to not enough experience at dealing with his feelings. Nevertheless, he wished that he could just hold onto her forever.

Sam, holding Nikki in his left arm, couldn't help but snicker alongside Nikki. "Aw, look at him."

"That is what we call a love addiction," Nikki added.

Kelsey let go of Cory and stared at his blue eyes. Cory, too nervous, couldn't stare back, his eyes falling to his feet, his cheeks bright red. "Aw, he's so flustered," Kelsey cooed, grinning at the sight of Cory blushing.

However, the school bus then came, and the doors opened up. "SHUT UP AND GET ON YA LOVEBIRDS!" Ms. Crabtree shouted from within the bus. This startled the rest of the children outside, causing them to jump.

While Kailey and Martin started to walk up the steps, Cory came out of trance and scoffed at the sudden rudeness of the bus driver. After so many months of what he had to put up with, his patience for mean people was running thin. "Ugh, what a bitch! She didn't need to yell at us!" The other three fourth graders, however, groaned due to Cory's comment.

Ms. Crabtree, however, wasn't exactly thrilled at what came out of Cory's mouth, and before he could question the rest of his friends why they reacted the way they did, Ms. Crabtree narrowed her eyes at Cory. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

Before Cory opened his mouth, Sam quickly used his left elbow to elbow Cory on his right side, causing him to shut up. "N-n-nothing!" As the children got inside, Sam shot a glare at Cory. "You ride the morning bus too, don't you? Kid, you should know better than to piss the driver off in the morning."

Nikki sat in the window seat on the right side of the bus as Sam sat next to her. Cory and Kelsey took the row directly behind, with Cory at the window seat. "I'm just sick of all the bullshit at school, that includes that dumb cunt of a bus driver."

Cory's insult was loud enough for Ms. Crabtree to hear. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

This threw Cory into a panic - like most confrontational situations, Cory's rationality shuts down, and in this case, his thinking ability was left incapacitated. Luckily, Kelsey saved the day with just the right words. "He said he forgot money for his lunch!" Cory raised an eyebrow briefly at Kelsey, knowing that she clearly lied to the driver since he was carrying money in his left pants pocket.

Ms. Crabtree's anger faded just as quickly as it rose, now full of remorse, buying Kelsey's lie. "Oh. That sucks."

 _Well damn._ "Thanks." Cory smiled at Kelsey for saving his skin just now.

The children took a seat at the right side of the bus. Sam and Nikki sat one row in front of Cory and Kelsey. As quickly as the bus stopped did the bus start accelerating from rest again, causing the rest of the children inside to suddenly jerk backwards in their seats momentarily.

Sam and Nikki held hands, Nikki by the window seat. "I finally got it Sam," she piped up.

"Got what?" Sam replied.

"I know what I wanna do for my future now. Ever since all of the crap that happened the past three weeks, everything just kinda dawned on me."

The events of the past three weeks sent chills down Sam's spine. He could remember the scrutiny Cory unjustly faced, how the relationship between him and Nikki faltered before perhaps restrengthening again. How they almost lost Kelsey as a friend before she finally came back into the light. There was nothing but sadness and darkness during those weeks. But perhaps there was more to Nikki's statement than what she might seem to imply. "What do you mean?"

"I wanna do something in the field of Criminal Justice. Perhaps be a police detective, or a police officer." Nikki's face was straight, showing how serious she was in her statement.

Kelsey, who had been sitting at the aisle seat and leaning against Cory (who was leaning against the window while hugging Kelsey, completely infatuated with her) began giggling. "You? A police officer?" Her giggles soon turned into laughter as Cory began taking notice of the conversation. Kelsey then proceeded to imitate Nikki's voice. "'H-ho h-hey, this is O-O-Officer C-Cartman, y-you're u-under arrest.'" Nikki folded her arms and growled, displeased with Kelsey's mocking. "'Put your hands up or I shoot.'"

"Kelsey..." Nikki could only sigh.

Before she could say more, Sam chimed in. "Hey, I think it's an awesome dream you have, Nikki, and I really do believe you'd do well in the justice system."

Nikki smiled at Sam. "Thank you, at least _someone_ appreciates my wits and talents." She then shot a glare at Kelsey and muttered, "Cunt."

Kelsey made a gasp as she covered her mouth briefly with her left hand before putting it down. "Nikki, that is so offensive!" She chided in a mocking tone.

"You know what's also offensive?" Nikki replied. Before Kelsey could answer, Nikki continued. "Your face."

Kelsey put her left hand on her hip. "Sheesh, you really have no chill today."

Cory just watched the entire interaction, unsure of what to think nor say. Sam looked over at Cory, he could tell with Cory's blank expression that he was completely lost. "They - they do this all the time, Cory. Nothing special."

Cory nods slowly. "I...I see," he replied softly.

Then the bus stopped, and all the children in the bus jerked forward, hitting themselves on the seat in front of them. "ALRIGHT KIDS, SHUT UP AND GET OUT!" Ms. Crabtree yelled.

The children groaned as they got off the bus one-by-one. When Sam, Nikki, Kelsey, and Cory got off, they gathered near the flag pole as they watched the other students file into the school. "Well, two more days left of school," Kelsey said.

Cory rolled his eyes. "Two more days left of torture."

"At least _you_ don't have to go to class today," Nikki whined. "Fuck this." Cory simply nodded - he couldn't argue against that.

"Hey, it's two days, what's the worst that could happen?" Sam asked.

Nikki looked over at Sam and raised her left eyebrow inquisitively at him. "Let's see, given the track record of our entire year, plenty, actually." Sam couldn't argue against that logic.

The four walked into the building and rounded the corner to the lockers. Cory opened his locker and stuffed his backpack inside. Upon turning around, he was surprised, jumping at the aspect of Sam, Nikki, and Kelsey standing so close behind him. "Woah!"

Nikki and Kelsey walked up to Cory, standing in his face. "What, you scared?" Nikki replied mockingly.

"Come on, girls, give him a bit of space," Sam said with a chuckle.

Kelsey shot a devious grin at Sam. "Is that jealousy I detect? Afraid Nikki's gonna run from you?"

Sam knew that if there was one thing Kelsey had trouble with, it was keeping her mouth shut. With that said, her comment still hit a sensitive spot in Sam. It reminded all of the troubles and rocky obstacles that his relationship with Nikki went through. It was something he was fairly insecure about, but he was certainly better at hiding his feelings than Cory was. "Damn, y-you b-both have no chill today," he said calmly.

The bell rang. At that moment, the four children realized they were late for class. "Well damn," Cory said. "You three better get going."

"Ugh, two more days, let's just skip class today, fuck this, fuck Garrison, fuck everything," Nikki groaned. "'Hey, I'ma call you Nicole because your nickname reminds me of Nicki Minaj.'"

"Tee hee, yeah, that's still hella funny." Kelsey then lept at Cory and hugged him tightly, causing him to blush. After letting him go, she looked him in the eyes. "See you soon, okay?" Cory smiled and nodded.

The two girls left, Sam stood behind. After the girls were out of earshot, Sam said, "Hey, sorry, about the girls...sometimes they can get pretty carried away."

"It's fine," Cory replied. "What Kelsey said to you though..."

"D-don't worry about it." Sam scratched the back of his head. "It's - it's nothing, really." Cory wasn't fooled that easily. He simply folded his arms and gazed sternly at Sam, peering at him searchingly, but he said nothing. Of course, the look in Cory's blue eyes meant to Sam that he had pretty good intuition of how Sam felt. "I'm...still kinda afraid of losing Nikki - plus we still have her asshole dad to deal with."

Cory nods slowly. "You'll pull through. You always have."

Sam smiles. "Thanks. You're a good friend." Cory beamed at Sam's compliment. It felt good knowing that he earned Sam's trust in him. Sam glanced around the deserted hallway. "I should go, before Garrison gets pissed at me."

"Right. Later." Cory and Sam waved goodbye at each other before they parted ways.

Cory went over to Mr. Vanson's office. The door was already open, as if expecting him. Mr. Vanson himself was at his desk, a mug of coffee on the table. He was over at his desk, preoccupied on the computer. "Finally, level sixty...hmm, I don't understand the point of Deep Freeze, yeah it's a stun, but I wanna deal some damage. I think I'm gonna respec Arcane after-" His eyes gazed over to Cory as he entered the room. Mr. Vanson quickly hit Alt+F4 on the keyboard to close his game. "Oh, yes, I've been expecting you. Please have a seat."

Cory looked at the four empty chairs. In his mind, there should only be one. This was an oddity indeed, but no matter what, Cory sat down on the leftmost chair.

"So how was your morning?" Mr. Vanson asked.

"It was fine, it was good." For once, Cory could say this with sincerity. He felt genuinely happy, not just because he got to hug Kelsey (though that was a good portion of it), but also because he felt like he belonged in a group that cared for and appreciated his presence.

Mr. Vanson, to Cory's surprise, said nothing else and went back onto his computer. He wasn't sure why. The room was mostly silent for another minute, save Mr. Vanson's clacking away at the keyboard, until three more children showed up, and to Cory's surprise (again) would be Sam, Nikki, and Kelsey. Each of them showed up with their backpacks. Sam carried in Cory's backpack and handed it to him. They sat down in order as follows: Sam, Nikki, Kelsey, then Cory.

"You three are here?" Cory said as he received his backpack. "Oh, and uh, thanks for getting my...wait...how do you guys know my locker combo?"

"You're not very good at being discrete about it." Sam shot a smirk back at Cory.

Cory was not pleased at hearing this, folding his arms, shooting Sam a glare. "Right...what else did you steal from my locker this year?"

"Oh...you know...a bit of this...a bit of that...some pencils...erasers..." Sam gave Cory a sheepish grin. He then reached into his right pocket and gave Cory a note. "There's also this letter you were supposed to give Kelsey."

Cory went bright red. "You dick!" _Oh my fucking God._ He reached his right arm out to try to take the note from Sam.

Unfortunately, Nikki and Kelsey sat between both boys, and so Kelsey was faster, taking the note before Cory could. "Oh, note?" She giggled. "Gee, I wonder what this could be." She unfolded the paper and began to read the note out loud. "'Dear Kelsey, I've always liked you, would you go to the End of the School Dance with me? Love, Cory.' Aww..." Kelsey covered her mouth with her left hand and giggled. "...that's so sweet!" She grabbed Cory's hands.

"Sam...I..." Cory didn't know whether to thank Sam for putting Kelsey in a good mood or kill him for embarrassing him in front of her.

"S-sorry, tee hee," Sam chuckled nervously.

Nikki shot a glare at Sam. "Idiot."

Mr. Vanson put his right index finger on the bridge of his glasses and shifted them upward. "Um...right. Anyways, Cory, your friends are now here, they're excused from class too. I put them here because...well, I wasn't sure if they'd be alright in class either, if you know what I mean."

Cory glanced at the other three children. "Oh...well, I am glad you guys are here," he said.

"Anyways," Mr. Vanson turned to Nikki. "Nikki, I believe you wanted to tell me something?"

"Hm?" Nikki blinked her brown eyes several times because remembering what she wanted to talk about. "Oh yeah, my dad. He doesn't want me to go out with Sam. He's worried that Sam is gonna do bad things to me." With that, Sam simply let his head fall downwards as he put his hands in his pockets.

"I...see. Eric being the overprotective dad." Mr. Vanson leaned back on his chair and gave a long-drawn sigh. "Everyone has a reason to do what they do, perhaps right, perhaps wrong. Perhaps Eric is worried that you might be hurt..." He looked over at Sam. He didn't say it out loud, but in the back of his mind, Nikki was more likely to be the aggressive one than Sam, so he found Eric's accusations rather laughable.

"It's not fair though, he can't tell me who to date and who not to date!" Nikki folded her arms and let her eyes fall to her lap.

"And to that, I agree." Mr. Vanson moved his gaze from Nikki onto Sam again. "Sam, you know your father used to give speeches about morality and what we should do when we were younger, correct?"

"Yeah," Sam nodded as he spoke softly. "I mean, I always wanted to do one, but to be fair, I'm not exactly the...uh...public speaker type, if you know what I mean."

"Maybe this is your chance to do that, Sam. You are going to the dance with Nicole, right?" Sam nodded in response to Mr. Vanson's question. "This could be your chance to shine, show the rest what you learned throughout the events of the past few weeks - the parents, the faculty, even the children."

"Like hell they'll listen." Nikki rolled her eyes. "Sam will have a better chance winning the lottery or something. Because you know, not saying Sam's bad, it's just the peers here, they don't have a very good track record at being actual people, if you know what I mean." Nikki let her arms fall towards the ground

Sam let his left hand softly hold Nikki's right hand, his fingers weaving and intertwining with her own. Delving his right hand into his pocket, he took out a quarter and flicked it into the air, watching the quarter travel. "I'll try anything once." The quarter fell straight down, which Sam caught in one fell swoop of his right hand. "Besides, it's really your dad we gotta convince."

Nikki smiled at Sam. Showing weakness was never part of her personality, and even though her cheeks flushed slightly red, she didn't look away, only staring into his green eyes. "I'm sure you'll do well up there." While Nikki could be truly mean and cruel to people, she could never treat Sam that way, he had always done his best to be nice to her, with exception of the one time Sam had called her a fatass, though Nikki did provoke him. "You gotta be tough, loud, forceful, passionate. Or else no one will ever listen to you. The kids at our school - they respond to strength and confidence. How did you think me and Kelsey got anywhere?"

Sam nodded. "You're right. Thanks. I'll try."

With every word spoken in this room, Mr. Vanson smiled more. It was good to see the four develop in positive ways. His eyes moved over to Kelsey, who was leaning her body against Cory, who had his arms around her. He could see the sweat on Cory's forehead, the way his cheeks flushed red. "You holdin' up there fine, Cory?" Mr. Vanson couldn't help letting out a few snickers.

"I'm - I'm a-alright..." Cory spoke quietly. He discovered two important things about Kelsey - the fact that she's chatty (which had gotten her in a great deal of trouble in the past AND recently), and the fact she truly enjoys hugs in general. "I'm just-"

"Nervous?" Kelsey completed for Cory, complimented by a few light giggles.

"A-a little bit," Cory replied. He fought to control his own nervous heartbeats.

Between reading a lot of books when he was younger and just plain getting better social skills, Mr. Vanson became better at reading people over the years. At this point, he could point out the biggest glaring personal flaws about every four children. He could say Sam wasn't assertive enough, Nikki was bullheaded and lacked compasison, Kelsey ran her mouth too much, and Cory was an emotional mess when things didn't go his way. Of course, he had the grace not to point them out here. So instead, he said, "Anyways, Sam, Nikki, Kelsey, you three are not required to do the Bullying Skit. You three, along with Cory, get to get out of it for free."

"Yes!" Sam exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Nikki added.

"Sweet!" Kelsey beamed.

"I managed to convince Garrison to do it, and to be honest, I'm fairly surprised - and happy - at how much you four have grown over the past week. I'm really excited to see how you four will turn out and the relationship that stems between you guys in the future. Actually...hm..." Mr. Vanson leaned side-to-side, looking out the window of the door to see if anyone was outside before facing the children again, "...normally I'm not supposed to do this, but since last day of school is tomorrow anyways...how would you four like to leave school right now?"

Nikki blinked several times. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. "Wait, seriously?"

Mr. Vanson nodded. "Yep, seriously."

Kelsey briefly turned to the others. "Do we really want to be here?"

Sam couldn't help but chuckle. "Not really." He turned to Nikki, then Cory, both shaking their heads.

"Any more questions for me?" Mr. Vanson asked.

"Nope," the children replied.

Mr. Vanson then extended his right hand. "Well, it's been good getting to know the four of you." Sam stood up and reached out his right hand to shake Mr. Vanson's, followed by Nikki, Kelsey, and Cory. "Have a great summer and I hope to see you four back during the fall. Tell your parents I said hi by the way."

"Bye Mr. Vanson!" The four children waved before leaving the office, taking their backpacks with them.

* * *

It was 5:30 PM and Cory stood in front of the mirror in his bathroom, wearing the same clothes he had worn earlier to school. He was neither calm nor collected, shaking endlessly. Despite the fact he had given his dance ticket away, his parents still thought he was going to the dance. Therefore, it was a rather obvious setup, with Cory and Kelsey together.

"Come on, Cory, you don't wanna be late!" Stan called from downstairs.

"Coming!" Cory made sure to shower beforehand, wanting to look and smell as clean as possible. Walking downstairs, he saw the front door wide open. Hearing the car already running, he concluded that he was being waited on, so Cory walked outside, closed the front door, and made his way to the car, sitting at the backseat with Stan in the driver seat and Wendy at the passenger seat.

It was mostly silent between the three as the drive was fairly short taking no more than ten minutes. After arriving at the McCormick residence, the three exited the car. As Cory inched closer to the doorstep of the McCormick residence, emotion and panic took a hold of him, and he doubled back. "D-dad, I can't do this."

Before Cory could run back, Stan grabbed a hold of Cory and knelt down in front of him. They looked each other in the eyes. "Yes you can, Cory. Don't say you can't, because you can do this."

"I'll - I'll just mess up." Cory shook his head and turned his head downward and towards the right, breaking eye contact from Stan. "What if she doesn't like me, what if-"

"Hey, listen." Stan softly lifted Cory's chin so that they regained eye contact. Stan kept his voice soft enough so that only Wendy could hear. "I know how you feel, I've been there before. How do you think your mother and I met the very first time?" Cory gave it a thought, letting his head fall towards the floor. He could then remember the discussion last Saturday, when Wendy briefly stated that Stan was too nervous to talk to her. "Frankly, I thought I made a fool of myself, I was so nervous I could barely even talk to her. And you? From what I've told, you never threw up around Kelsey, so you have a pretty big advantage there." Cory couldn't help but chuckle. "But I do get it though. Pretty girls can make you nervous and emotional, but just remember that she's still there for you, you know?"

Cory nodded. "Alright." He slowly walked over to the front door. A nervous sigh escaped him as his heartbeats quickened. He knocked on the door three times. After several seconds, the door opened up and there stood Kelsey with a big, wide smile.

"Hey!" Kelsey jumped towards Cory with her arms out, hugging him tightly.

Like usual, Cory's cheeks flushed bright red. "H-hey."

"How are you today?" Kelsey asked.

"I'm f-fine," Cory softly replied. "I'm g-good. You?"

"I'm doing great!" Kelsey chimed. "Ready for the...dance?" She winked her right eye. Cory nodded and smiled.

Kenny came into view form the doorway, chuckling. "Aw, would you look at that?"

"Almost reminds us when we were young, huh Stan?" Wendy glanced over at Stan.

"Yep." Stan chuckled as well. "Well, you kids don't wanna be late, right?"

Kelsey drew away from Cory and held his left hand with her right hand. "Of course not!" She turned to Cory. "Ready to go to the...dance?"

Cory blinked. "Huh? Oh...right." He smiled softly.

"Bye kids, have a fun time!" Wendy waved goodbye.

"Bye!" Kenny and Stan added.

* * *

It was 5:50 PM and the South Park Gymnasium was lit brightly in the evening sky. Children of ages 6-12 filed in like flies being attracted to a light bulb in the night. The line into the gym was long, reaching well into the street at the front side of the school. Nikki was near the front of the line, pacing in place frantically with only one thing on her mind: Where the hell is Sam?

Just as the couple directly in front of her was being met by Mr. Gibbons, one of the Fourth Grade teachers at the front door, did Sam finally arrive to Nikki. "Hey, sorry I'm late."

"The heck took you so long?" Nikki groaned, irritated about the fact they could have lost their place in line. "We could have almost gotten kicked back to the very back, ya know?"

"But I'm here now, right?" Sam smiled, embarrassed as he shrugged his shoulders.

Before Nikki could say anything else, Mr. Gibbons called out, "Next please!" Sam and Nikki walked foward to the teacher. "Tickets?" Mr. Gibbons held out a basket with a large pile of tickets already inside. Sam and Nikki put theirs inside. "Thank you. Next!"

Hundreds of students were already inside. At the home side of the basketball court inside the gymnasium was a table with chocolate cake and fruit punch. Towards the visitors' side of the basketball court was the stage, and off to the side next to the stage was the music speakers and the DJ.

Nikki looked over at the table with the fruit punch as Mr. Adler was pouring them into paper cups. "Let's get some punch." She began to walk towards the table.

"Sure," Sam replied.

Both children took their cups of fruit punch and drank from it, then threw it in the trash. They then went over into the middle, where the main dance was staged. Thus, they held each other in their arms and began to slowly move to the beat.

"You know, it's actually amazing how fast these few weeks have gone by," Nikki said.

"I think things are shaping up to be pretty well." Sam nodded as he continued to lead Nikki on. "I mean, Kelsey's back with us, we have Cory now, so yeah."

Nikki shrugged. "There's still the others. I don't think they take kindly to us."

"Hey," Sam said. "We're here to have fun. This night is about the two of us and no one else, so let's make the best of it."

"Yeah..." Nikki looked over her shoulder, the way the other children are focused mostly on themselves and their social circles. She looked back at Sam, the one who lead her on the dance. Through thick and thin, through the darkest of times, they have always managed to find their way back to each other - over and over again, and it made her smile, so widely that Sam began to take notice.

And take notice did he indeed. "You alright there?"

Nikki was taken aback, snapping back to reality. "Oh, me? Yeah, sure. I'm fine. I've just done some thinking."

"About what?"

Nikki glanced side-to-side, making sure no one was paying attention to them. When she was sure of that, she looked back into his green eyes. "How we always manage to find our way back to each other, time and time again."

"It's almost as if we were fated to be together." Sam couldn't help but chuckle at his own statement.

Nikki grinned slyly. "In your dreams, kiddo."

"I mean, well..." Sam looked down and shrugged his shoulders shyly. "...if it were up to me? I wouldn't - I wouldn't have it any other way...i-if you know what I m-mean."

"I do know what you mean, I'm not - I'm not dumb." Nikki cleared her throat. "Ahem."

"Holding up there? Nervous?" Sam peered at Nikki searchingly, trying to tease her and throw her off.

Nikki cleared her throat again. She definitely wouldn't allow herself to show weakness. "Me? Nervous? Ha! Never."

"Got a lot of balls here," Sam chuckled.

Nikki gasped. She very lightly slapped Sam on the left shoulder. "That is sexist!" She said in mock anger, but she couldn't manage to suppress a few giggles after.

"You like it." Sam flashed a cheeky smile.

The music then began to pick up. "Finally, no more slow dancing. Looks like it's time for my turn to lead." Nikki grinned.

"You lead, wait- woah!" Before Sam could say much more, he felt his entire body be pulled by Nikki.

It was the continuing trend throughout the next hour. Sam led the dance whenever it was a slow song, Nikki lead during fast songs, and if it was even speed, they both seemed to share the lead role. Then by 7:10 PM, both were beginning to tire out.

"Phew." Sam was sweating, due to having to physically move around nonstop in the past hour.

Nikki was sweating as well. "Maybe we should take a break or something." She looked around again, then frowned as she looked back at Sam. She didn't know what else to say.

Sam could see the dismay on Nikki's face, though he was unsure why Nikki was feeling this way. Surely, Sam didn't do anything wrong this past hour. "What's wrong?"

Nikki shook her head then looked into Sam's eyes. "I wish Cory and Kelsey were here."

Sam shrugged as he looked back into Nikki's brown eyes. "I do too. Though I can kinda see why. I wonder what they ended up doing with those dance tickets."

Nikki looked around again then back to Sam. "They ended up giving them to our younger siblings...over there." She pointed to behind Sam.

Sam turned aorund, watching Kailey and Martin happily dance together. "It looks like they're having a great time.

"Yeah." Nikki smiled widely as she watched her brother dance. "You know, the awards ceremony is supposed to start soon."

Sam began to take notice of the crowd around them, the way they're slowly ceasing their dances. He looked up at the stage as Principal Victoria began to stand in front of the mic "Looks like it's starting now."

"Boys and girls, may I have your attention please?!" The entire gymnasium ceased all sound and music as Principal Victoria spoke, as if crickets stopped chirping all of a sudden in the night. "Greetings and salutations! I hope you are all having a fun time tonight!" The entire gymnasium was still silent. "Right...uh...without further ado, let's just go on to the awards, shall we?!"

Principal Victoria then began distributing the awards as planned. There were numerous awards that went to various children, such as best athlete, best speller, best actor, best musician. Then came the last two awards.

"We have two more awards to hand out tonight! First, we have the Perfect Student award!" Principal Victoria grinned. "This is a student who not only shows perfect attendance, but also truly cares about school as well! He's not only on time, but he also puts hard work and effort into his work. He shows respect to authority as well, and thus he has never gotten a single infraction!" Mr. Vanson handed Victoria a letter and she began to open it. "And so, the winner is..." she opened the note. Both Nikki and Sam noticed blue scribbles written on the back, shown to the entire audience, however, they were too small to be read. "...Charlie Brown! Come on up!"

"Huh?!" As Charlie Brown came up, he was in complete shock. Principal Victoria handed Charlie the note with her left hand and shook his right hand. "Be sure to read the back by the way."

Charlie flipped the note over and began to read.

 _Hey. Sorry for being a dick a week or two ago. You definitely didn't deserve to get in trouble with the nurse's office at one time, so I made arrangements with Principal Victoria to make sure you got the award you deserved._

 _~Cory_

It was short. It was concise. It was straightforward. It was blunt. There was no sugarcoating nor fluff in the note...yet it still meant the whole world to him, so much it made Charlie shed tears. "Thank you, Cory," was all Charlie could muster before walking off the stage.

Sam and Nikki looked at each other. "I guess this was what Cory was talking about when he'd give back to Charlie."

"Was this about the one time Cory got Charlie in trouble at the nurse's office?" Nikki asked.

"Probably."

Then it dawned on them - the fact Cory would go out of his way to try to make amends. Granted, it wasn't the straightforward tactic, but he still intended to do good, and the results didn't lie.

"Now, we have one more award! This one is the one that all of you love the most! This is the one who brings smiles to all your faces, the one in which you children are always happen to be around! This is the Most Loved Student! Please welcome..." Mr. Vanson gave Victoria another letter and she opened it up to read the name out loud. "...Cory Marsh...wait, what?!"

There were definitely murmurs around the room. Harsh words of criticism came about. There were accusations of cheating, as if Cory himself went to rig the vote, perhaps as justice, to try to ruin the awards ceremony. "Uh...does anyone know where Cory Marsh is?!"

One boy in the room said, "I don't see him anywhere!"

"Kelsey McCormick is also missing!" A girl pointed out.

"I bet they both cheated!" Another boy yelled.

Sam's mind began to race as he let go of Nikki. "N-n-none of this makes sense...they wouldn't realistically be able to rig votes like this, we voted in class remember...they can't have cheated. They would never do this...would they?"

Nikki looked around. She knew something was up, there should be no reason Cory was ever top of the list in this award. Then she saw it. Above Principal Victoria on a basketball board was a metal bucket resting on the very top, but she was unsure of what it was. There was a rope attached to the handle, leading back to somewhere behind the bleachers on the left side, but she couldn't see who was manning the rope. "...that's because Cory is the one being cheated."

Sam looked over at Nikki, blinking. "Wait what?"

"It all makes sense! This entire thing is a setup! Look!" Nikki pointed straight at the bucket resting on top of the board. "That was intended for Cory!"

Sam noticed it too. He pointed straight at the bucket, yelling, "ABOVE YOU!"

"Wait, huh?!" As Principal Victoria looked up, there were furious whispers and panicked hushes where the rope led, then the side door opened, and loud footsteps were heard. A moment later, the rope was let go, and due to the rope's movement and the sudden decline of tension causing counterbalance, the bucket fell on Principal Victoria, splashing orange paint all over her.

Her screaming could be heard at least half a mile away.

* * *

"What was that?" Cory jumped, hearing the scream.

He and Kelsey were at Stark's pond, holding hands as they looked towards the pond at the sunset. It was a beautiful evening and as Summer Solstice approached, they could feel the cool breeze marking Spring's end. Cory held Kelsey in his arms, Kelsey sitting by Cory's right as Kelsey snuggled tightly against Cory, resting her head against Cory.

"Seems it's from the school." Kelsey shrugged. "If the cops show up? Probably no reason to get ourselves mixed in with the mess, right?"

"Probably not a good idea," Cory agreed.

Kelsey took her head off of Cory, but still snuggled up on Cory. "How'd you like Shitty Wok, with the Shitty Chicken and the Shitty Noodles?" Kelsey giggled lightly.

"Don't forget the Shitty Broccoli." Cory chuckled as well.

Seeing Cory genuinely happy tonight made Kelsey's heart flutter. "You know, I'm actually glad we skipped the dance. Hell, the way the pond reflects the sunset? It's really pretty."

Cory nodded. "Yeah. I was afraid I'd bum us out with the decision."

"It doesn't matter, things just kinda went haywire, and I didn't really get what I wanted." Kelsey sighed.

Cory blinked. He was quite intrigued though he was unsure what Kelsey was referring to. "What do you mean?"

"I wanted to win the Most Loved Student Award."

Cory peered at Kelsey, narrowing his eyes searchingly. "Isn't that some sort of popularity contest thing?"

"It is." Kelsey drew away from Cory and sighed, looking down at the ground. "I...always wanted to be pretty and popular. To have lots of friends and never be lonely. I don't know. I know what it's like to be lonely, and it's...it's tough. I don't know how you could manage it, because I couldn't."

Cory listened closely to every word. After doing so, he knew just what to say. "Friends shouldn't be used as a commodity for status. You should be friends with someone because you genuinely care for each other and want to help make each others' lives better, not to boost your own ego."

Kelsey's eyes opened wide as she gazed at Cory. She did not expect Cory to say something so thoughtful and powerful. For a long time, she always craved having steady relationships. Now she realized what she really needed; someone who was dark but also grounded and loyal. And Cory fit the bill."I...I never thought of it that way. Wow, I...I don't know what to say."

Cory stared at Kelsey continuously. "Is there...anything you'd like to share?"

"I just hate being lonely. It's boring, and it's just a lot more fun being able to hang out with others. I just hope people wouldn't leave me again." Kelsey sighed. She looked over at Cory again. "Do you still like me?"

The question made Cory blush awkwardly. "A - a little bit. Why?" His voice was soft and shy.

Kelsey grabbed both of Cory's hands and held them softly. "You really grew on me. I always thought you were some weird kid, and..." She sighed. "Look, I know how depressed you are. I know you're angry at the world, I've been there before. But you've really taught me what it means to be a good, loyal friend, and I just want to let you know that I'm glad you're there for me." She didn't hesitate to lean up to Cory and hug him again.

Every word from Kelsey's mouth made Cory shed tears of pure emotion. "I've...I've never felt happier in my life being with you. You make me smile, and without you...I don't know where I'd be."

Kelsey touched her forehead with Cory's as she stared deeply into Cory's blue eyes, or tried her best to. Cory was nervous, afraid of making a fool of himself so he didn't make eye contact with her. "School could be better, I think we can both agree on that." Kelsey's voice was soft and low, as nurturing as she could possibly make it. Cory would detect the resemblance to the way Wendy always comforted him whenever he felt down. "But in every cloud of darkness, there's always a silver lining. There's people - besides myself - who care about you. Sam certainly does. Nikki as well. And so do your parents, as my dad has for me."

Cory drew back. The mentioning of his own parents made him frown, feeling of guilt overtaking him. "I...haven't been the best kid to them. Especially my dad."

"Chin up." Kelsey gently lifted Cory's chin up so that he looked straight into her eyes. "I'm sure they won't hold it against you. I won't hold it against you either. After all, you really grew on me."

"You do too." Cory sighed nervously. "It's just...you know...I'm uh...not sure what to say, I mean maybe things could...you know...maybe-"

Kelsey leapt forward to kiss Cory in the lips, effectively silencing him. Cory tried to pull away due to the suddenness, but after fully realizing what was going on, he closed his eyes as he felt his heart melt. For about fifteen seconds he felt Cory's lips until he couldn't feel them anymore. He then lept to Kelsey to hug her tightly.

"Wanna get some ice cream?" Kelsey asked.

"In a little bit," Cory replied.

"I love the sunset," Kelsey added.

"Me too."

* * *

"No one wants to come out huh?!" Needless to say, Principal Victoria was fuming, orange paint dripping off her hair and jacket. The bucket that once held the paint was now on the floor behind her spilling the leftovers. "Then maybe I should end the dance early! Immediately!"

Nikki tapped Sam's left shoulder. Sam looked over at Nikki as she leaned in. "I think this is your chance." Her words were soft and quiet so that Principal Victoria couldn't hear. "To show everyone what you learned."

Sam blinked. If his father Kyle were in Sam's shoes, he wouldn't hesitate to go up to the stage to share with his peers what he learned, even if he could be met with ridicule. "I don't know about this one..."

"It could be your only chance." Nikki took Sam's left hand. "Here, I'll go up with you if it makes you feel better."

Sam could feel a lump form in his throat. "Alright," he spoke softly. "Let's do this."

As the two made their way up to the stage, Principal Victoria took notice of the pair. Her eyes opened wide, surprised to see the pair of all people. "You two did this?!" Furious whispers erupted in the gymnasium.

"Actually we didn't, in fact, we don't know for certain who did this." Nikki eyed Sam and muttered her next words so softly only he could hear. "Though I have a pretty good idea who did this." Sam nodded in response.

"So then why are you two here?!" Principal Victoria yelled.

Nikki looked over at the crowed and held her left hand out towards them, as if beckoning Sam. Sam lead Nikki over to the microphone. He sighed. He tapped the microphone. "Is this thing on?!" The tap rang through the speakers.

"Ow!" The children complained.

"Sorry!" Sam sighed. "As Nikki said, we don't know for certain who did this, but I'm pretty sure, Principal Victoria..." Sam looked over at the Principal, who was still fuming. "...I don't think you were the intended target. You see, I don't think Cory deserved that award, the Most Loved Student award. I think someone rigged the vote so that he could show up, because _he_ was supposed to be the target for the paint getting dropped on him, not Principal Victoria."

"So where is Cory?!" Charlie Brown yelled.

Nikki scoffed, disapproval and disgust on her face. "He and Kelsey never came; they gave their tickets to our siblings because you guys fucking suck."

"What Nikki means to say..." Sam shook his head as he sighed again loudly. "Look: I learned a lot in the past few weeks. School is wild place to be, and not just the teachers, but the social environment too. People can get passionate and dramatic. But school can really be the darkest times in our lives, and it can suck. Everyone has a story, and you might not know what it's like for others because you're not in their shoes. Things happen, fights happen, depression, betrayal, feelings of powerlessness and worthlessness. And I'll say that while none of these is what anyone here should be feeling, it happens because we aren't together, that we don't have the empathy to care for each other and feel together. Because we do things to undermine our trust and relationships through bullying and other stuff." Sam looked over to Nikki.

Nikki nodded. "Last year, you guys targeted Kelsey McCormick, my closest friend, my best friend, my fucking soulmate...not in a lesbian way. And guess what: you all feared her and were too afraid to stand up to her. Anyways, this year you chose Cory Marsh. And you know how he ended up turning out. Who's the next scapegoat gonna be? It could any one of you, or your friends, someone you know. And I get it, people want revenge. I was in those shoes, I let anger and passion cloud my judgement. It's a sickening, constant feedback loop. And to anyone I've ever hurt...I'm deeply sorry."

There were a few moments of silence before Sam spoke up again. "Honestly, if you know someone who's struggling at school, someone who's just been kicked down in the dirt, instead of just going along with it, instead of letting the vicious cycle of abuse continue, just be a good friend to them. Spend time with them, even if they don't want to do much. Or maybe just a hug or a simple 'hello' would suffice. Because at the end of the day, just by one person being there for them will help them make it to the next day..." Sam sighed again. "That's...all I needed to say."

The room was dead silent for an entire minute. Then Charlie Brown was the first person to clap. "Woo!" Afterwards, everyone else, one-by-one, began to clap slowly, speeding up into genuine, cheerful claps. Sam and Nikki looked back, seeing Principal Victoria and Mr. Vanson smile back at the two.

However, the door to the Gymnasium burst open, and standing in the doorway was a fuming Eric Cartman. Everyone turned their attention to Eric. "Oh fuck my ass..." Nikki muttered as her eyes widened in fear.

Eric's eyes immediately latched onto Nikki and the boy's hand she held - Sam's. "Nicole Cartman, you come here this instant!"

"I...I..." Nikki stammered, unsure of what to say.

"I'm telling you now, Nicole!" Eric yelled. "Come over here now!"

Nikki was breathing heavily. She looked over at Sam, then back at Eric. "...no!"

"...what did you say?!" Eric yelled.

"I said no!" Nikki yelled back. "You can't tell me who to date and who not to date! It's not like I'm stupid or can't handle myself, because I'm pretty damn well sure I can handle myself, dad, so stop treating me like I'm too stupid to make decisions by myself!"

"It's not that I think your stupid or weak, Nicole, it's that..." Eric gritted his teeth as he softened up considerably. "...I don't want you getting hurt. You know how boys can be, hell, you know what our generation had been through with these...accidents." The entire student body peered at Eric, so Eric glared back at the children. "Yeah, you're all accidents, grow the hell up!"

Nikki rubbed her chin. What she'll say next could possibly contradict Sam's message just now. But perhaps this would be the only way to convince her father. "...then that would suck for me, wouldn't it?" Eric looked up at her daughter now. "Life is shit. I will get hurt, dad, but you can't shelter me forever, because if you do, then when am I gonna learn how to choose the correct boyfriends, nevermind even learning to be a good girlfriend myself? Besides, you kinda pre-tarnished my reputation too with your antics from what you did when you were a kid, because you've made pretty dumb mistakes too, dad." Nikki waited a moment for her dad to say something, but no words came, so she continued. "And Sam? He's the nicest, kindest person you'll ever meet, even Kelsey and Cory can attest to that. And I don't know exactly what his dad did to you when you were a kid, but whatever horrible things Sam's dad did to you - Sam himself would never do to me, I can guarantee you that."

Sam almost wanted to cry from Nikki's speech. It hit his heart that Nikki put Sam on such a high pedestal, looked up to Sam so much, and he felt deeply appreciated and loved. His smile was subtle and soft, but anyone in the room could tell that he was deeply flattered by Nikki's remarks about him. Perhaps Nikki wasn't the kindest person, but when it came to Sam, she wouldn't hesitate to guard him until the very end.

"Uh..." At this point, Eric had to admit defeat, especially by his own daughter. "...don't be out too late." With nothing more to say, he turned to walk away.

Sam and Nikki looked over at each other and smiled before throwing themselves into each other's arms. Principal Victoria, completely ignoring the hugging couple, still dripping with orange paint, walked over the the microphone. "Well, I hope you children learned something from Sam and Nikki. And I'm being dead serious. I'm very disappointed in you all this year, the way you all behaved. And given no one has still come to confess about the paint dilemma? I think I'm ending this dance immediately."

"Aw man!" Many of the children complained.

"Go home!" Principal Victoria yelled before stomping away.

Sam and Nikki broke from each other's arms. "Whelp, we tried. Sorry for the shitty dance."

Nikki shrugged. "Eh, it was gonna happen anyways, it was all their fault. Let's get some ice cream."

"Agreed."

* * *

Cory slowly entered his own home alone. As he shut the door and turned around, he noticed his parents approaching in their pajamas. "Hey, sport," Stan said. "How was the dance?"

"It was fine," Cory nodded. "It was good."

"Did you too hug?" Wendy asked. "Did you two kiss?"

"Uh..." Cory immediately blushed. "S-something like that, yeah..."

Stan and Wendy looked at each other and smirked. They both knew it. "You didn't...you didn't vomit on her, did you?" Stan asked.

Cory's face immediately contorted with disgust. "What?! Ew! Gross, dad! Why would you joke about that?!"

Stan laughed. "Hahahaha. Alright, well do get to bed. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, honey!" Wendy waved.

"Goodnight." Cory then made his way upstairs.

Wendy looked over at Stan. "Do you think...do you think Cory and Kelsey might be...you know..."

"Dating?" Stan shrugged. "Could be. Either way, I think it will be good for Cory."

"Yeah," Wendy agreed. "It will really help him build confidence."

Stan yawned. "Anyways, time for bed."

"Alright," Wendy said as she followed Stan upstairs.

* * *

 **Welp, here it is. The fic is almost nearly completed. There will be only two more chapters before the end of the fic. Afterwards, I'll work on the rewrite for the Great Journey fic, then maybe if I have the time, I'll start on the Fractured But Whole Fic. Similar to the Great Journey, it will not follow the story exactly, in fact, it will veer off in a completely different direction. I haven't began writing a storyboard for it yet, but I'll go into further detail once I get there. Later.**


	23. Chapter 23: Rising Sun

**You guys may have noticed that I removed my TSoT rewrite. The reason for this was that I didn't like it too much so far and I wanted to do some things over. By the time I'm done with this fic, I'll post the rewrite again.**

 **When Trey Parker and Matt Stone wrote the "Make Bullying Kill Itself" song for the episode Butterballs, they never finished the song sadly, so I went off to finish it for them. Here it is, so enjoy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 23**

Cory jolted out of bed with a start as the morning sun seeped through the windowsill. He looked out the window and it's a beautiful Friday morning. He sighed deeply. "Last day of school." Putting on a black buttonless jacket with a hood, black ski pants, and black ski gloves, he went over to the restroom to comb his jet-black hair. It's cropped, went down a little past his ears, and while others thought it was a bit unkempt, he didn't care less. He could see my bright blue eyes in the reflection of the mirror. Cracking his neck, he moved downstairs, not taking his backpack with him.

At the kitchen he saw his parents Stan and Wendy sitting at the table snuggling up to each other. Stan was only wearing a white undershirt and blue basketball shorts while Wendy was wearing a black tank top, short black shorts, and black stockings. The fact that Wendy was leaning up against Stan, who had his face in her hair, and based on what both adults were currently wearing told Cory what the two of them did earlier. Unlike last week, this time, a very subtle genuine smile formed on his face. He was grateful that his parents were together and happy. He almost wanted to cry from the sight. Nevertheless, he quietly moved over to pour regular Cheerios and milk into a bowl and decided to sit down right across the table from them.

Finally noticing Cory's presence in the kitchen, Stan and Wendy broke apart, blushing. "S-sorry you saw that, hon." Wendy was clearly embarrassed she was caught in such an act. She pulled up another chair and sat down.

Cory nonchalantly shrugged. "It's fine." And just like that, he simply resumed eating.

Stan wasn't sure though, he had a hunch there was something more. "You sure?"

Cory crunched loudly and swallowed some of his cereal. "Look, I..." Cory sighed. He rubbed his forehead with his left hand as he softly said his next words. "...I never really appreciated how much you both love each other...and all the stuff dad did for me." He got up from his chair and went over to hug Stan. "Thanks...for being there for me...and giving me life." His voice was soft and mechanical, no reason to fluff things up more than necessary.

And despite the little fluff in Cory's voice, Stan still smiled anyways, patting Cory gently on his head with his left hand. "I wasn't the best father...or even that great of a father..."

Cory sniffled as tears came down his eyes. "Y-you're still better than...than the rest of _their parents_...if you know what I mean..."

Stan nodded. "That...that means a lot to me." Stan took Cory within his left arm. "You know, you've always been a good kid. And yeah, there will be tough spots in your life. There will be times when you feel like the whole world is out to get you, but never forget that we'll always be with you until the day we die."

Wendy gently patted Cory on his right shoulder, smiled, and gently sang, "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, just how I love you, please don't take my sunshine away."

After they broke apart, Cory went over to finish off his cereal before putting the bowl in the sink. "I gotta go now, goodbye."

"Bye," Stan waved.

As Cory put his shoes on and opened the front door, he could hear his mother call out, "Good luck at school today, honey!" He stopped and looked back. It was Wendy who said it, with full sincerity in her voice, a hopeful smile on her face, and a not-so-subtle wave with her right hand. Cory smiled back; this time he knew Wendy meant it.

As he walked out to the sidewalk, Charlie Brown and Sally were waiting at the front, neither of them with backpacks. Like usual, Cory completely disregarded Charlie's presence, but just as he passed by Charlie, he heard the voice that made him stop. "Cory."

Cory's heart skipped a beat. He was unsure what Charlie wanted, but he was certain it would be anything but good. "W-w-what?" Cory's voice was soft and nervous. His fists tightened as he slowly turned around to face the Browns.

Charlie smiled however. "Thanks for the note, and for getting me that award. I'm sorry for being mean to you."

Hearing Charlie's words immediately lifted up Cory's spirit. He couldn't help but beam, saying, "T-thanks," in a soft tone.

"I feel bad though," Charlie continued. "No one should ever have to go through what you went through this year."

Cory shrugged as he glanced down at the ground. "I wasn't the only one."

Charlie nodded. "I heard you're with Kelsey McCormick now. A lot of guys wanted to be with her, and Nikki. They're really pretty."

"Kelsey is, yeah." Cory couldn't help but blush at the thought of both girls, and of Kelsey especially. "Welp, I'm gonna be going now. Bye."

"Oh, I see, you're gonna see your...new friends? Can I even call them new?" Charlie raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Not sure to be honest." Those were the last words Cory spoke before heading off to the bus stop.

A few minutes later, up ahead, Cory could see Sam, Nikki, Kelsey, Kailey, and Martin at the bus stop, none of them with their backpacks either. As usual, Cory saw Nikki and Martin arguing with each other while the other three were somewhat silent for now.

"It's not fair, and besides, people shouldn't be fat shaming each other, people should be happy at the way they appear." Martin stomped in place with his right foot, glaring upwards at his older sister.

Nikki folded her arms, meeting Martin's angry eyes with her own. "And people shouldn't have to get diabetes or die of cancer or heart attacks or some shit. You're running laps after school, retard."

"It's not fair!" Martin yelled.

"Shut the fuck up," Nikki retorted.

As Cory approached, Kelsey took notice and immediately lept at Cory. "Hey!" She snuggled up to Cory.

Cory stumbled from Kelsey's weight, almost falling but regain balance as he was more-or-less hugged to death by the blonde girl. "H-hey." Cory couldn't help but notice the argument. "What is this?"

Sam sighed as he stepped between Nikki and Martin. "Alright, come on guys, this is kinda getting out of hand."

"Nikki's being mean again!" Martin complained.

Sam put his right index finger on his own mouth. "Shh."

"But-"

"Shh!"

Martin kept quiet as Sam turned to Nikki. "Nikki, I do admire that you're trying to teach your brother to get a better lifestyle but...you could be nicer to him."

Nikki shrugged her shoulders as she grumbled, "Martin's always stubborn, never listens to me, always tries to fight me on everything."

Sam went behind Nikki and began to gently squeeze her shoulders. "You know, you both have to respect each other better. You can't both be stubborn all the time."

Sam's gentle squeezing eased Nikki, able to feel her anger being quelled, her stress being lost. Her mood went from angry to much more apologetic as a frown formed on her face while she looked down to the ground. "I know...everything just pisses me off a lot. From this as well as the shit we went through..."

"I know." Sam then put his arms around Nikki, hugging her from behind. "Cheer up. We'll get there one day."

If this was any other boy, Nikki would have physically attacked him. But the way Sam was always gentle, the way he always did his best to be supportive, and the way he was just in general a loving person soothed her. He was the much needed ice to cool and quell her flame. Thus, she couldn't help but let her own heart drop, putting her hands in her pocket while Sam held her tight, resting his chin on Nikki's right shoulder. "I'm...I'm sorry Sam. Martin."

"Let's have a good day, alright?" Sam said softly.

Cory took note of the entire interaction, the way Sam had held Nikki gently and how sweetly Nikki reacted. However, he heard Kelsey's giggling next to him, and looked over, raising an eyebrow at her. "Seriously?" His tone showed that he was somewhat annoyed, finding it bad taste for Kelsey to be giggling at this time.

"Oh it's just..." Kelsey took a closer inspection at Cory's deadpanning mood. Then Kelsey felt guilty, frowning. "...right. Sorry."

Cory shrugged. "It's fine." Cory put his right arm around Kelsey and held her closer to him, and Kelsey smiled again. Cory didn't say much, but Kelsey could tell Cory was being forgiving.

Kailey and Martin watched the older children interact, how they treated each other as new couples. "...huh," was all that Kailey could say. Martin had no words to say.

Just then, the bus came by and stopped in front of the children. "SHUT UP AND GET ON!" came the voice of Ms. Crabtree from the bus. The children all sighed as they got on the bus one-by-one.

Sam and Nikki sat one row in front of Cory and Kelsey. As they all took their seats, the bus suddenly accelerated, and the four were thrown back onto their seats. Nikki sat by the window seat, grabbing Sam's right hand with her left hand. Cory also sat by the window seat, with Kelsey leaning her body against him.

"You know, I think I figured out what I want to do in my future." Sam then turned around to face Cory. "Your mom still works for this city right?" Cory nodded silently, and Sam continued. "I kinda wanna do something with politics as well. Work for government."

"That'd be pretty cool." Nikki turned to Sam and smiled. "Both of us working to help the city in different ways."

"It's something I wouldn't mind doing in the future." Sam nodded at Nikki before turning to the couple sitting behind him. "What about you two? What do you two plan to do?"

"Oh, I'm definitely gonna be an engineer, without a doubt." Kelsey turned to Cory. "You remember that plane I built with popsicle sticks."

Cory grimaced and turned away, remembering the way he destroyed it accidentally and pissing Kelsey off. "Y-y-yeah...too well actually..." Sam noticed Cory grimace, surely something had happened between the two. However, he noticed Kelsey acting as if nothing had happened at all.

"Well, that's kinda what I wanna do," Kelsey finished.

Nikki looked over at Sam and began to laugh. "You? An engineer?" She began to laugh loudly. "Yeah, someone who doesn't shut up, sure."

"Uh, I have the best science grade in the class, and you're being totally mean right now!" Kelsey scoffed, though her whiny tone suggested she wasn't all that serious.

"Said the one who made fun of my career goals yesterday," Nikki shot back.

"Woah, woah, ladies. Chillax." Sam had both palms up and out as if telling both girls to halt.

Nikki glanced at Sam briefly before turning back to Kelsey. "Yeah, Kelsey. Chillax."

"Hey, I'm totally chill! You're the one who's not, Nikki!" Kelsey stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry at Nikki.

Sam sighed, rolling his eyes at Kelsey. "Come on, Kelsey." He then turned to Nikki. "Nikki. Let's not fight again." Sam then turned to Cory. "What about you, Cory?"

Cory put his right hand to his mouth, rubbing his chin. "Um...not sure to be honest."

Kelsey smiled at Cory and grabbed both his hands with her own. "I still think you'd make a pretty sweet nurse."

"What makes you say that?" Nikki asked.

Kelsey turned to face Nikki. "Well, it was the way Cory took care of Charlie's leg when he scraped it, or whatever."

"But Charlie still hates Cory I thought," Sam reminded.

Cory shook his head. "No, Sam. Charlie apologized to me this morning. He says we're all good. I'm still not sure though. I'm still worried."

Kelsey turned back to Cory. "I'm sure things will be fine for you." She smiled at Cory.

Seeing Kelsey's smile, Cory smiled back. "Yeah. Maybe."

The bus stopped at the school for the final time this school year. "SHUT UP AND GET OUT!" Mrs. Crabtree's voice as relentlessly angry as ever rang through the school bus. The children wasted no time getting off the bus. When the Sam, Nikki, Kelsey, and Cory finally got to the front of the school, they looked at each other and sighed.

However, Kelsey pointed at what was towards Stark's Pond and the other children turned. At Stark's Pond was a carnival being set up. "You know, by the time we're with school today, that carnival's gonna be open. Wanna check it out?"

"We don't have any money, how are we gonna get in?" Nikki pointed out.

"I'll just have my dad take care of that for us." Kelsey shrugged. "I'm sure he'll pay for us." Kelsey sighed. "School though..."

"Last day of school." Sam stretched his arms out. "You guys ready."

"Yeah." Nikki nodded. "Let's do this."

The four children entered the school building. Many of the children looked over, smiled, and waved to the four. For once, Cory felt truly appreciated for who he is. What all four children noticed was that the friendliness of the children was undoubtedly genuine and all too real to be mistaken as feigned kindness.

Kelsey immediately knew this was an oddity, so she looked over at the other three. "What did you guys do? Was it about the dance yesterday?"

Sam and Nikki looked over at each other. They winked at each other, then Sam looked back at the other couple. "Oh not much."

"Yep, just a regular dance alright." Nikki giggled.

Then the bell range. "Welp," Kelsey said. "Last day of class is here."

"The skit is today," Sam pointed out. "The one we got to dodge."

Nikki laughed. "Nice, now we can see how cringy it will really be."

Cory opened his mouth and lifted his right index finger, but then put his hand down. "My dad was really weird when he wrote that skit."

"I'm pretty sure all our parents were really weird when they were our age," Kelsey giggled.

* * *

The gymnasium was completely packed at 10:00 AM. By the time Mr. Garrison came up on stage, all of the students and faculty had already found their seats in the bleachers or on the chairs on the gym floor.

"Alright, alright! Thank you for being here!" Mr. Garrison alone silenced the entire gymnasium. "As you all know, Stan Marsh wrote this song years ago, and I think the deeper message held dear in this song can be taken to heart! Besides, you all really need to hear it! Please welcome my fourth grade class!"

The rest of the four kids' class came up one by one, though noticeably, two of the children Leslie Donovan and Claire Stotch carried a glass box with Charlie Brown trapped inside.

"Why is he in a box?" Cory asked.

"That's actually part of the skit," Sam replied. "Don't ask why."

"Right..." Cory didn't know what else to say.

Without another word, the skit began, featuring the children dancing in sequence as they sang along to the song.

 _Bullying isn't cool. Bullying is lame._  
 _Bullying is ugly and has a stupid name._  
 _For a healthy world, bullying's unfit._  
 _And I think I know what we should do to i-it._  
 _Do do do do do to i-it._

 _Let's all get together and make bullying kill itself._  
 _Bullying's an ugly thing, let's shove its face in the dirt and make bullying kill itself._  
 _Woah-oh. Woah-oh. Woah-oh._

Fred Cotswolds then came front and center onto the stage, wearing a blonde wig that betrayed his natural brown hair.

 _Boy you like my body. Set the mood, let's play!_  
 _You can touch me anywhere except for my vajayjay._

Fred then retreated back as the skit played out again.

 _We can make it stop. We can stomp it out._  
 _We can beat its ass until it starts to cry._  
 _Let's gang up on it and tell it it smells_  
 _And beat its ass worse if it ever te-lls._  
 _If if if it ever te-lls._

 _Let's all join together to try to make bullying kill itself._  
 _It'll be fun to see just how bad we can make it feel and make bullying kill itself._  
 _Woah-oh. Woah-oh. Woah-oh._

Fred came to the front once more, still wearing the wig.

 _My heart says ye-es (ye-es ye-es)_  
 _But my vajayjay says no-o._

Fred then took off his wig and held it in his right hand for the remainder of the skit as he retreated back. Then Leslie and Claire came forward, both carrying the box that Charlie was stuck inside. The other children stopped singing as it was Charlie's turn to perform a solo.

 _Trapped inside the darkness of my mind._  
 _I try to break free. The words are so unkind._  
 _In all directions, even from behind._  
 _There's no peace or salvation I will…_  
 _...find! (Stupid! Ugly! Pansy! Dork! Retard! Inbred! Fuckface!)_

Leslie and Claire set the box with Charlie inside down as John Donovan then stepped in front of Charlie as it was his turn to sing his solo.

 _I've always been the one who's on the ball._  
 _I've always pinned nerds and losers straight to the wall._  
 _It was fun for me, but for them not so at all._  
 _It will be the thing that causes such a…_  
 _...fall! (Cool! Awesome! Manly! Hot! Rad! Tough! Legend!)_

As Charlie's box slowly opened up and clear smoke erupted from the box, all of the children began to sing.

 _It's not fair to be a dick._  
 _Our friendships can get really sick._  
 _If we keep going then maybe soon_  
 _We fall divided, that's our boon._

 _It doesn't have to be this way_  
 _'Cause there is something here to say._  
 _We stand together, not a pause_  
 _To kill off bullying, that's our cause…_

At this point, Charlie was entirely free. The other children picked up Charlie and held him up in the air as they began to sing.

 _...TODAY! WE FIGHT! WE SMASH DOWN BULLYING, TWIST ITS TIT!_  
 _...TODAY! WE KILL! WE BEAT UP BULLYING, ADD A SPIT!_  
 _...TODAY!_

Afterwards, the children set Charlie down as they began to move onto their third verse.

 _We can make it cease. We can take it down._  
 _Take it down and kick its ass so far from this town._  
 _Bullies aren't so cool, they just suck a dick._  
 _They don't know when to stop until they get so si-ick._  
 _They they they they get so si-ick._

 _Let's all stand together and make bullying kill itself._  
 _Follow me and you will see the truth just in that it's shit and make bullying kill itself._  
 _Woah-oh. Woah-oh. Woah-oh. Woah-oh. Woah-oh. Woah-oh. Woah-oh._

Throughout the entire skit, Sam, Nikki, Kelsey, and Cory were all snickering, giggling, chuckling, and laughing at the embarrassment and expense of their class up on stage.

"Oh man, this is rich!" Nikki was laughing. "This is so fuckin' gay!"

"I think my dad took after my grandpa too much." Cory nodded as he chuckled lightly.

"I'll tell you one thing, I am so glad we're not down there," Sam remarked.

Kelsey was on her phone taking video of the entire skit. "Oh they're gonna hate me when I post this on the internet."

 _Bullying is dumb. Bullying is shit._  
 _Bullying's so bad that it can suck my left tit._  
 _It's just not okay. Kick it far away._  
 _You will see that it's just not the way to play-ay._  
 _Way way way way way to play-ay._

 _Let's all walk together to try to make bullying kill itself._  
 _Let's all nail it to the cross and burn it down to the ground and make bullying kill itself._  
 _Woah-oh. Woah-oh. Woah-oh. Woah-oh. Woah-oh. Woah-oh. Woah-oh._

 _Woah-oh. Woah-oh. Woah-oh. Woah-oh. Woah-oh. Woah-oh. Woah-oh. Woah-oh…_

 _...woah-ooohhhhhhhhhhhh!_

Needless to say, all of the children roared loudly, some genuinely cheering while others laughing. The class was very pissed, grumbling profanities beneath their breath. Mr. Garrison came up on stage, trying his hardest to hold back laughter. "W-w-well...I certainly hope you guys all enjoyed the..." Mr. Garrison couldn't finish his sentence as he began to burst out laughing. "Holy shit, you guys are FAGS! FAGS!" He pointed at his own class.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Nikki said to her friends.

"Agreed," Sam said.

* * *

It was 12:30 PM. The school doors burst open, and children ran out the front doorway, screaming about how school was over and the amazing things they would do during their summer break. As Sam, Nikki, Kelsey, and Cory exited the building, they saw that the carnival at Stark's Pond was already running.

Nikki looked over at Kelsey. "Kelsey, about that carnival..."

Kelsey immediately piped up. "We're going? For real?"

Sam nodded and smiled. "Sure. I wouldn't mind. What do you guys think?"

"I'm in," Nikki said.

"Whatever you guys want," Cory said.

Kelsey clapped her hands together. "Yuppers!"

As the kids crossed the street, they were greeted by none other than Kenny McCormick, who simply wore a purple T-shirt and jeans. "You kids ready?"

"I definitely am, Dad." Kelsey noticed that Kenny was no longer paying attention to her nor any of her friends and instead was just staring at what was behind them. "Dad, what are...what are you..." Kelsey turned around, and the sight that she saw caused her heart to drop.

A blonde woman approached the crowd, no older than thirty years of age. She wore brown flip flops and a simple pink dress. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail She shyly approached the crowd. "H-hey...I'm back..."

Kenny rubbed his eyes. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Kelly...is that...is that really you?"

"M-m-mom?" Kelsey's voice trembled. It wasn't easy for Kelsey to be facing down the very person who had abandoned her and Kenny when she was just an infant. Tears came down Kelsey's eyes, unsure of what to say. "H-h-how c-could you..."

"Yeah, it is me indeed." Kelly scratched the back of her head.

Kenny shook his head. "It's been too long...way too long..."

Kelsey then erupted. "How could you do this to dad?! How could you do this to me?! Just leave us like that - like we were nothing!"

Kenny immediately went over to Kelsey and held her tightly in his arms. "Kelsey, it will be okay. Shh.."

Kelsey continued to sob into Kenny's chest. Sam, Nikki, and Cory were completely speechless, unsure of what to say nor think, therefore, they just stood rooted in place awkwardly.

Kenny sighed. He reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet. He then gave Kelsey four tickets into the carnival and four twenty-dollar-bills. "Let me take care of this. You four head on in."

As the four children obeyed, Sam called out, "Uh...thanks."

Kenny nodded at Sam then turned back to Kelly. "Yeah, it's been a while."

Kelly curled her hands into her fists and looked down at the floor. She then looked back up at Kenny. "I've come back here because I'm now working at Hell's Pass Hospital."

Kenny folded his arms. He was now genuinely curious to see Kelly's point of view. "Oh? Why'd you change? More money or something?"

Kelly sighed and closed her eyes before opening them again. "Bluntly put...I want a restart with you."

Kenny opened his eyes widely. "Wait what? I thought - I thought you were still mad at me-"

"I was...but it was kinda my fault too as to why Kelsey happened. And I miss her too." There was a moment of silence before Kelly spoke up again. "I only made things worse, me leaving you and Kelsey like that."

Kenny shook his head and waved his hand dismissively. "You're not a bad person, Kelly. If anything...well..." Kenny sighed. "Everything I did...I am...sorry, you know."

Kelly then jumped into Kenny and hugged him tightly. "I miss you so much. I miss Kelsey so much. I just want us to be together again."

Kenny was initially surprised, but then wrapped his arms around Kelly soon after. "I miss you too. I was so lonely without you, and I'm sorry, I couldn't manage myself in ways...well you know..."

Kelly broke away briefly before putting her right index finger on Kenny's lips. "I get it, I really do. But that doesn't matter anymore. What does matter now is that we're here, and we're together."

Kenny nodded. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

At Stark's Pond were people from all around town, as well as some visitors from nearby Colorado towns and cities, such as Middle Park, North Park, and even Denver, came to attend the fair. Tents and structures of tarp were erected in the wake of the people to serve mostly as a cheap form of entertainment such as shooting and throwing games, rides such as roller coasters and a giant Ferris wheel, a drop tower, and several places to eat. Inside the carnival by 1:30 PM, Kelsey was still sobbing into napkins and Cory had his left arm around Kelsey as Chef approached the four children.

"Hello there children!"

"Hey Chef!" Sam and Nikki said. Cory was still rather nervous around Chef ever since he put firecrackers in Chef's birthday cake, therefore he chose to remain silent.

Chef then looked over at Kelsey. "Why are you crying?"

"Because my mom is a selfish bitch, and she chose to come back now?!" Kelsey continued to cry.

Chef nodded. He didn't know the full details of everything, but he already knew the basic context of what had happened between Kenny and Kelly when Kelly gave birth to Kelsey. "People make mistakes in their lives." Chef gently patted Kelsey's head. "People can really hurt others through impulse. But you should be happy that your mother has come back. After all, it's better late than never right?"

Kelsey always did her best to look on the bright side, and hearing Chef's words reaffirmed such strength in her. She forcibly wiped away her tears with a napkin and tossed them all away into the garbage can. "You're...you're right. I should be happy." She turned to the other three children. "I wanna go to the Ferris wheel."

"That again?" Nikki laughed until she quickly realized Kelsey was glaring at Nikki. She wasn't exactly in the mood of getting prodded by Nikki. "Right...of course, sorry..." Nikki profusely apologized.

"I'm down," Sam said. He turned to Cory. "How about you?"

Cory, still holding Kelsey in his left arm, shrugged. "Sure. Kelsey?"

Kelsey smiled. "Ferris wheel it is."

Chef then waved. "Well, you four have fun now. Have a great summer!"

"Bye Chef!" The children called back before getting in line.

When it was finally the four kids' turns to embark on the Ferris wheel, from left to right, the kids were seated in the order of Sam, Nikki, Kelsey, and then Cory. Of course, when the ride did start, whatever feelings of sadness still lingered quickly dissipated, replaced by the summer's breeze, and the ride's thrill.

"Been a while since we've done this," Sam said.

"Just like old times," Nikki said.

"I like these times - the new times - better to be honest." Kelsey looked over at her friends and smirked.

"Of course," Cory agreed with Kelsey. Cory then noted Kenny and Kelly down below chatting on a bench and pointed down. "Kelsey look!" Kelsey looked down and saw what Cory saw. She couldn't help but cry tears of joy.

A minute later, the four children reached the very top. At the very top of the wheel to the right was a camera. When the four kids finally reached the top, they read the sigh underneath the camera that said "SMILE". For the first time in a very long time, the four kids were actually having fun with each other, and this time, they completely disregarded the camera, too infatuated in the joy they brought to each other. Sam held Nikki's right hand with her left as he pointed off to his right. Nikki rested her left elbow on the metal bar that secured the children as she rubbed her chin with her left hand, smirking while holding Sam's left hand with her right hand. Kelsey was busy giggling as she was brushing up against Cory. Cory had his right arm around Kelsey, blushing and doing his best to control his own emotions. There was no denying that this was the sight of true friendship.

* * *

 **Well, after long ado, we now have one more chapter to go. I want to thank you all for sticking with me until the very end.**


	24. Chapter 24: Finisterre

**Bet you guys didn't think I'd put out the final chapter this quickly, did you? Well, here it is. This is quite shorter than any chapter I've written previously. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy this.**

* * *

 **Chapter 24**

The evening sun shone through the window into the small room. On one side of the room was a large mirror that spanned the entire wall. Two couches were on the wall opposite of the mirror. There was nothing in the middle of the room, so it was free space to move around. A twenty-eight-year-old man stood in front of the mirror staring at himself. His hair was still cropped though much shorter, barely going past the top of his ears. He wore a tuxedo with a red bow tie. Curling his right hand into a fist, he examined the ring that was on his ring finger - a golden band with an emerald gem at the tip, signifying his birthday in May.

A soft, serene voice called out from behind the man. "You look nice today, Cory."

Cory turned around, finding twenty-eight-year-old Kelsey in her pink bridesmaid dress, pink high-heels, and white stockings, wearing a golden ring just like Cory's on her right ring finger, except the gem on top of it was a diamond, signifying her birthday in April. Kelsey had abandoned her hairband years ago. Her stomach was bloated, an obvious sign that she was nine months pregnant. "Thanks. You look gorgeous."

"Aw," Kelsey giggled softly.

Cory shook his head. "You know, I still think it's a bad idea doing this today. What if our son comes out in the middle of their wedding?"

Kelsey walked forward and held Cory's hands together, smiling. "Cory, trust me. I'll be fine. Our baby will be fine. Sam and Nikki still need us out there to support them. And if it I do have to give birth during the middle of the wedding? I'm sure Sam and Nikki will understand. They always do."

Cory slowly nodded. He stared at Kelsey's hands as he held them softly. "I remember the first time we kissed years ago. That night, how we told each other we'd never leave each other, how I'd always be loyal. It was almost like yesterday." Cory looked up and saw Kelsey smile widely. Cory only sighed, looking down again. "I also remember a few days later promising us we wouldn't make the same mistakes our parents did."

"Cory..." Kelsey too her left hand away from Cory's hands and used it to lift Cory's chin up so he was looking straight into her eyes. "We're much better prepared then they ever were. They were twenty when they had us and were still busy with college. We're twenty-eight now, with stable jobs and a bright future. So what if things were early for us?"

Cory blinked. "You sure a difference in eight years matters that much?"

"It matters _a lot_ , trust me. And we're ready, even if you still doubt it, I believe we're ready. I know we are." Kelsey moved forward, wrapping her arms around Cory and moving her face very close to Cory's only two inches away from a kiss. "The point is: we can do this. We can succeed where our parents failed." Before she could say anything else, the noise levels from the doorway Kelsey came from increased substantially. Kelsey broke off from Cory and turned around. "I think the wedding's gonna start. We should get going."

Cory nodded in agreement. "Agreed."

The wedding stage and chairs for the audience were already set up at the new ski-resort lodge that overlooked Stark's Pond. The windows were open so the summer breeze flowed through the room. Cory was one one side of the stage with the rest of the groomsmen, his hands behind his back. He could see Kyle and Bebe in the front row, Bebe holding Sam's and Nikki's newborn daughter Tina. Red was also there, though there was an empty seat to her left. Stan and Wendy were together in the second row, and so were Kenny and Kelly. Many of their friends from Elementary, Middle, High School, and College could be found further back. The Donovans Leslie and John, as well as Claire Stotch also showed up.

"We might have more people show here than they did at our wedding, from what it looks like, damn," Cory stated. "This place will be packed." Kelsey nodded very slowly as she stood next to the other bridesmaids while holding a bouquet of sunflowers, but didn't respond. She held her stomach softly, frowning. Cory looked over at Kelsey. "You alright?"

"Huh?" Kelsey looked up, her facial features pointing out she was visibly nervous. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine, definitely, hehe..." she lied. Kelsey let out a long-drawn sigh. "I just hope we start soon."

Sam came up to Cory, also wearing a tuxedo. He had a platinum ring on his finger with a sapphire gem on it and a rose on his right shirt pocket that was drooping down. "Hey guys."

Cory could see Sam breathing heavily, the way he constantly curled his hands into fists then loosened them. He noticed the rose not sitting right on his shirt pocket. "Your flower's loose. Let me fix it for you." He grabbed ahold of the rose and straightened it out so that it sat nice and neat. "Relax, it will be fine."

"Yeah. You're right." Sam nodded. He then eyed Kelsey, the way she was struggling to stand up straight and confidently. "You alright Kelsey?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine, don't worry about me Sam." Kelsey waved her left hand dismissively.

However, Father Maxi, the eighty-eight-year-old Catholic priest, came up to the three. "It seems the bride is here."

Everyone turned their attention towards the pair at the end of the walkway. Eric Cartman held the right hand of his daughter Nikki with his left hand, wearing a tuxedo. Nikki herself wore a snow-white wedding dress and a platinum ring on her finger with a topaz gem on it. As the music played, the pair slowly strolled up the walkway until they reached Sam, the groomsmen, and the bridesmaids. Eric then let go of Nikki and turned to Sam. "Take good care of her, would you?" Eric smiled.

Sam nodded back and smiled. "I will."

Sam and Nikki faced each other, staring deeply in each others' eyes with smiles.

The old Father Maxi then cleared his throat. "We are gathered hear today to celebrate-"

Kelsey's eyes suddenly ran bloodshot as she collapsed down to the floor, dropping her bouquet of sunflowers on the ground "Oh god..." Kelsey was breathing heavily, clutching her stomach. "C-Cory! Please, C-Cory, it's happening!"

 _Not even a second into the ceremony...oh Goddamnit._ Cory moved past Nikki and Sam and knelt down in front of Kelsey. The crowd gasped, erupting in murmurs. "I knew we shouldn't have come..." Cory then grabbed Kelsey to attempt to help her stand on her feet. "Come on, Kelsey, we gotta get you up!"

"We might not have enough time!" Kelsey panicked.

"Not if we just stand here, lets go." Cory turned to the rest of the crowd as he rushed Kelsey down the walkway. "I am so sorry guys - Kelsey, come on."

As fast as they could, Cory helped Kelsey to the passenger seat of their car as Cory took the wheel. As Cory backed out of the parking lot, Kelsey groaned in pain. "Just hang on, Kels!" Cory drove as fast as he could without attracting attention of the police. It took no longer than ten minutes to make it all the way to Hell's Pass Hospital.

As Kelsey was transported into an unused patient room, Cory had to wait outside, and it was his turn to panic. What if the baby didn't turn out alright? What if it ended up dying? What if Kelsey ends up dying during the process? So many questions raced through Cory's mind. Then the door to the patient room opened. "Mr. Marsh, your son has arrived. Would you like to see?"

Cory jumped up and immediately faced the doctor. "Yes!"

"I am Doctor Artour Babaev. You're wife will ultimately be fine. Come."

Cory walked inside, seeing the other nurses disperse away from Kelsey, as Kelsey lied in bed holding onto their baby son in her arms wearing a plain green gown. "Cory! Look! Justin!"

Cory chuckled as he came by Kelsey's side, pulling up a chair, and sitting down. "Justin's a cute one, huh?"

"You wanna hold him?" Kelsey offered.

"Yeah, sure." Just then, Cory could feel his phone vibrate in his pocket. "Hold on...what is it now..." Cory sighed as he pulled out his phone and saw that Sam was calling, so he took the call. "Sam! What's up?" Cory pushed the speaker phone button so that Kelsey could hear.

"Hey! Is everything alright?!" Nikki's voice rang through the phone. "Caused quite a scene back there!"

"Yeah actually we just had the baby!" Kelsey said back.

"Oh great!" Sam said through the other line. "Everyone's fine, yeah?!"

"We're all fine, Sam, don't worry," Cory replied. "Kelsey is fine, so is Justin. Though I'm afraid we can't make it back to your wedding. Sorry."

"It's fine, I'm glad you guys are okay," Nikki said.

"Yeah, well, I'm glad you things worked out," Sam said. "Maybe we could talk again some other time."

"Of course." Cory nodded. "Later man."

"Goodbye," Kelsey said.

"Bye!" Sam and Nikki said before shutting off the phone.

Cory sighed as he collapsed in his chair. "Glad that worked out okay."

"Yeah." Kelsey giggled lightly as she kissed their son in the forehead.

Later that night, after putting Justin to bed, Cory and Kelsey finally collapsed into their own bed in their house in their pajamas, in bed, and underneath their blankets. It was 12 AM and the room was completely dark with only the light of the full moon shining through the windows. Cory gave off a sigh of relief. "I'm glad things worked out for us in the end."

"Same here," Kelsey said. "All of us have families now, the jobs we always wanted. It's more-or-less a new chapter in our lives."

"Yeah." Cory nodded. "Welp in any case, we ought to get some sleep. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Kelsey leaned in towards Cory for one last kiss on the lips.

As the couple eventually fell asleep, a certain picture was inside a frame. The picture showcased four ten-year-old children, two boys and two girls. To be exact, it was the picture of Sam, Nikki, Kelsey, and Cory on a Ferris wheel ride. Sam held Nikki's right hand with her left as he pointed off to his right. Nikki rested her left elbow on the metal bar that secured the children as she rubbed her chin with her left hand, smirking while holding Sam's left hand with her right hand. Kelsey was busy giggling as she was brushing up against Cory. Cory had his right arm around Kelsey, blushing and doing his best to control his own emotions.

This was the moment that started it all, and there can be no question that the joy imbued in the children in the picture signifying true fellowship is real beyond any doubt.

* * *

 **Actually, I don't remember if you wear rings to the wedding or if you get it during the ceremony. I haven't been to one in so long.**

 **On a final note, I know I've had my ups and downs. I've had moments where I wanted to just stop writing this story completely, moments where I just lost passion in this type of story, and I almost gave up. But I'm glad that I stuck it through to the end, and I appreciate those of you who stuck it through to the end with me as well.**

 **In any case, I hope you enjoyed this fic. I hope you all have a great Fourth of July, everyone.**


End file.
